
Class LT^ io'^^ 

Book A £. 



Copyright N'.^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



TEACHING 
THE COMMON BRANCHES 

A TEXTBOOK FOR TEACHERS OF 
RURAL AND GRADED SCHOOLS 

yff Wf CHARTERS, Ph. D. 

PROFESSOR OF THEORY OF TEACHING 

AND DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION 

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI 




BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



v^<' 



COPYRIGHT, I913, BY W. W. CHARTERS 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



CAMBRIDGB , MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S .^A 



<S CI. A :^ .1:7 .'1 9 



PREFACE 

This book represents an attempt to write a simple 
text on the theory of teaching for students of teaching 
and for inexperienced teachers, particularly in the rural 
schools. 

Most of the would-be teachers who take an elementary 
course in methods of teaching are destined to begin in 
country schools. But most of the methods found in 
books on teaching have been worked out for graded 
schools, where there is more time, and where there are, 
on the whole, better teachers. The author has faced this 
problem by writing the present text primarily for rural 
teachers. The most practical assistance to him in the 
task has been several years* experience of his own as a 
country school teacher, several years more spent in 
training country teachers in a County Model School, 
and, very recently, some experience in teaching peda- 
gogy to a group of young students in the University 
High School. This equipment has been supplemented 
by an examination of all the books used in the high- 
school normal training classes of those states that have 
them, and by submitting the manuscript to certain 
experts who know country schools and the capacities 
of their teachers. 

In planning the textbook, three courses were open. 
First, the principles of teaching might be discussed with 
copious illustrations from the several subjects. This, 
however, would give a disjointed view of each subject. 
Or, the abstract principles might be stated briefly in the 



iv PREFACE 

first four or five chapters and applied In detail to the 
different subjects in later chapters. Or, — and this was 
the method finally selected by the author, — the sub- 
jects might be treated separately, each explained and 
illustrated, and a general statement of these given in the 
last five chapters of the text. 

The reasons for adopting this plan are two. In the 
first place, it provides for an inductive treatment of the 
principles of teaching. After the student has seen how 
to secure interest in spelling, writing, arithmetic, read- 
ing, etc., he is able to understand the abstract statement 
of how to do it in all subjects; he can make his own 
generalizations and apply them. But, in the second 
place, many people do not know how to apply princi- 
ples, and seemingly can never learn. This type of mind 
seems to handle a new situation not by reference to a 
principle stated abstractly but by reference to another 
concrete case. For such, the last five chapters are of 
little use. Such teachers will use only the special 
methods. Hence, these methods should be treated fully. 

The number of pages devoted to each subject is no 
indication of relative importance, for much space is 
taken in the earlier chapters to explain technical terms 
and illustrate general principles. 

The order of subjects in the first fifteen chapters was 
determined according to the teaching process most 
clearly exemplified therein. Spelling was selected as the 
first because it is essentially a drill subject, and hence 
easy to demonstrate to beginners. In this subject, 
drill is emphasized. In reading, appreciation is empha- 
sized; in drawing, an easy correlation with other sub- 
jects; in music, the parallel with written composition; 
in geography, the use of the imagination; in arithmetic. 



PREFACE V 

the developing method; and in civics, a psychological 
organization based upon practical problems. Developed 
in detail in one subject, the principles are then applied 
in the subjects following. 

Each subject has been approached from the functional 
point of view. 

The references for class reading are not exhaustive; 
only those books that seem sufficiently simple for inex- 
perienced teachers have been cited. 

While special attention is paid to those modifications 
that are necessary because of the lack of time in rural 
schools, yet the author believes that the text will be of 
value to all teachers, whether in rural or graded schools. 

Acknowledgment of assistance in criticizing the man- 
uscript is made to State Superintendent W. D. Ross of 
Kansas, formerly Inspector of Teacher Training Courses 
in the Kansas high schools; to State Superintendent 
W. P. Evans of Missouri; to S. E. Davis, Inspector 
of Teacher Training Courses in the high schools of 
Missouri; to G. W. Reavis, Rural School Inspector for 
the State of Missouri; to R. H. Emberson, Professor of 
Rural Education in the University of Missouri; to R. 
M. Dewey, of the University of Missouri; and to my 
wife, Jessie Allen Charters. 

W. W. C. 

University of Missouri, 

Columbia, Mo., August, 1913. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. SPELLING 1-27 

1. Subject-Matter 1 

2. Interest in Spelling 10 

3. Learning to spell 16 

4. Class Mechanics 23 

References for Class Reading 25 

Class Questions 25 

CHAPTER II. PENMANSHIP 28-43 

1. Subject-Matter 28 

2. How to get Interest 36 

3. How to study Writing 39 

4. Class Mechanics 41 

References for Class Reading 42 

Class Questions 43 

CHAPTER III. LANGUAGE 44-72 

1. Subject-Matter 44 

2. Motive 51 

3. Methods of Language Study 62 

4. Class Mechanics 69 

References for Class Reading 71 

Class Questions 71 

CHAPTER IV. GRAMMAR 73-103 

1. Subject-Matter 73 

2. Motive for Study 87 

3. Learning Grammar 92 

4. Class Mechanics 99 

References for Class Reading 101 

Class Questions 102 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V. READING 104-145 

1. Subject-Matter 104 

2. Primary Reading 118 

3. Motive for Study 127 

4. The Study of Upper-Grade Reading . . . .130 

5. The Study of Literature 135 

6. Class Mechanics 142 

References for Class Reading 143 

Class Questions 144 

CHAPTER VI. DRAWING 146-165 

1. Subject-Matter 146 

2. Methods of teaching Drawing 158 

S. Study for Appreciation 159 

4. Class Mechanics 163 

References for Class Reading 164 

Class Questions 164 

CHAPTER VII. MUSIC 166-184 

1. Subject-Matter 166 

2. Motive 174 

3. Learning to read and compose 176 

4. Class Mechanics 182 

References for Class Reading 184 

Class Questions 184 

CHAPTER VIII. HANDICRAFTS 185-215 

1. Subject-Matter 185 

2. Carpentry 191 

3. Sewing 194 

4. Cooking 197 

5. Primary Handwork 202 

6. Advanced Handicrafts 211 

7. Class Mechanics 213 

References for Class Reading . . . . . . 214 

Class Questions 214 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER IX. GEOGRAPHY 216-240 

1. Subject-Matter 216 

2. Motive for studying Geography 224 

3. Methods of studying Geography 228 

4. Class Mechanics 237 

References for Class Reading 239 

Class Questions 240 

CHAPTER X. HISTORY 241-265 

1. Subject-Matter 241 

2. Motive for Study 249 

3. Methods of Study 252 

4. Class Mechanics 263 

References for Class Reading 264 

Class Questions 264 

CHAPTER XL CIVICS 266-272 

References for Class Reading 272 

Class Questions 272 

CHAPTER XII. ARITHMETIC 273-299 

1. Subject-Matter 273 

2. Motive 279 

3. The Study of Arithmetic 282 

4. Class Mechanics 294 

References for Class Reading 298 

Class Questions 298 

CHAPTER XIII. PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE .300-309 
Class Questions 309 

CHAPTER XIV. AGRICULTURE 310-321 

1. Subject-Matter . ,310 

2. Motive 313 

3. Methods of Study 315 

References for Class Reading 320 

Class Questions 320 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XV. SUBJECT-MATTER . . . .322-327 
Class Questions 327 

CHAPTER XVI. MOTIVE 328-334 

Class Questions 334 

CHAPTER XVII. THE RECITATION .... 335-341 
Class Questions 341 

CHAPTER XVIII. ASSIGNMENT AND STUDY .342-345 
Class Questions 345 

LIST OF BOOKS FOR COLLATERAL READING . 346-347 

INDEX 349-355 



TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 



TEACHmG THE COMMOI^ 
BEAKOHES 

CHAPTER I 

SPELLING 

i. Subject-Matter 

We shall begin our study of methods of teaching with 
a description of spelling. In all these studies that are 
to follow, we must remember that we are for the most 
part concerned with country schools where there is 
much haste and worry. Because of this, the methods 
we suggest must be simple and direct, and such as will 
take the least time possible to carry out. 

Function. The first question that we shall ask of every 
study is: What is its use, purpose, or function? For 
every study has a different use or function. History *s 
use is to tell us what was done in the past; penman- 
ship's, the making of letters according to a certain form 
and standard. Botany furnishes information about 
plants; zoology about animals; and music investigates 
how sounds go together to produce pleasing combina- 
tions. Every subject has a function of its own entirely 
different from that of every other subject. 

Spelling is not peculiar in this respect. When we ask 
spelling to state why it exists, it might, had it the power 
of speech, answer as follows: ** My function is to see that 
letters have the correct order in words." "But," we 



2 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

remonstrate, " writing has the same job, has it not?" 
Spelling replies: "No; all that writing has to do is to see 
that the letters are made properly. It does not care 
about the order of the letters. A word might be beauti- 
fully WTitten according to the standards of writing, but 
be very imperfect when judged by the standards of 
spelling.'* 

If this correct order were not maintained, what would 
be the result? This question is answered in different 
ways at various times. If we do not spell correctly, 
some say, people will think we are not educated and they 
may make fun of us. A sign over a business college in 
Chicago was recently ridiculed by the local newspa- 
pers because it read as follows: " Spelling, arithmetic, 
and writing taught here." Again, we may be applying 
for a position, and the presence of a misspelled word 
may injure our chances of getting it. Such a case oc- 
curred only recently when a college graduate wrote at 
the conclusion of his application, ** Yours respecfully, 
John Smith." Needless to say, he was not seriously 
considered. 

These are, however, inadequate reasons for learning 
to spell correctly. The real reason for learning to spell 
correctly is that we may be understood. 

In writing words we place the letters in a certain order 
so that people will know exactly what we mean. A man 
wrote to an acquaintance to buy him a " heavey " horse 
for farm work. He was very angry with the horse dealer 
for bringing him a heavey horse, and was convinced 
only when he saw that he had written heavey for heavy. 
He had thereby lost one hundred dollars ! 

An automobile dealer received the following letter 
from a correspondent : — 



SPELLING 3 

** Dear Sire: Because you send me A Paid Envellope I 
SEnd you an answer I Have No Recolection of Apply- 
ing to you to Purchase an Automobile I Am 82 years 
Old and very nervous Could Not possibly use one and 
would not accempt one if you would Give it to me Would 
Not undertake to Operate One No how Have No no 
money only a Little Pension money I draw as a Wounded 
Soldier was badly wounded on the Yazoo river in 1863 
could not Operate Car no-how Rid in one only with 
great ereluctance Please excuse me from wanting such 
a charge to worry out my life Farewell." 

Here we are inclined to think the writer an object for 
ridicule; and we have difficulty, moreover, in knowing 
exactly what he means. We can surmise what he is try- 
ing to say; but he is trusting to the reader's good humor 
and intuition. Every time a word is mispelled, the 
writer has to trust to the mercy of the one who reads it. 
He has no right to expect to be understood. Inaccurate 
spelling means faulty communication, and sometimes 
the inaccuracy is very expensive. 

Summary. The function of spelling is to enable us to deter- 
mine the order of letters in words, in order that we may com- 
municate values in writing. The penalty for poor spelling is 
the likelihood of being misunderstood, and, furthermore, of 
losing reputation with the reader. 

Standard of Good Spelling. A little friend of mine was 
said to be the best speller in the county. His reputa- 
tion as a speller was based on the fact that he had been 
the last person on his feet in a county oral spelling match. 
He wrote me, telling me the good news; and in the letter 
he said, *' I was nervous for a wile." So, after all, he was 
not a good speller; for one may lay claim to that merit 
only when he has no errors in his written work. The 



4 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

ability to spell orally is of little value to us, since in 
speaking we do not have to spell. We need to spell only 
when we write, and it is in our writing that our spelling 
is to be judged. One boy may be able to spell aloud 
such a word as onomatopceia and still be a poor speller 
in his ordinary writing; and another boy may be a poor 
speller in a match, but seldom make mistakes in his 
written compositions. No matter how well a child 
shows off in a spelling lesson, and no matter how well he 
can spell when he tries, his ability as a speller depends 
upon the number of mistakes he makes — the percentage 
of errors in his written composition, whether letters 
or essays. 

Besides being able to spell correctly, to be a good 
speller one must be quick. There is a relation between 
a careful speller and a good speller. A careful speller is 
just like a good speller in that he does not allow mis- 
takes to occur in his written work; but often a careful 
speller has to spend a great deal of time looking up 
ordinary words in the dictionary, while a good speller 
can spell both accurately and automatically. 

Summary. A student is a good speller only when in his writ- 
ten work outside of his spelling class he spells all words accu- 
rately, and common ones without thinking. 

Structure. The function of spelling is to take care of 
the order of letters in written words. By the structure 
of spelling we mean the order in which letters are put 
together to form words. There is no invariable order or 
law in spelling. For instance, ough is pronounced quite 
differently in through, where it has the oo sound, from 
ough in cough, where it is pronounced off, and from ough 
in doughy ploughy and tough. Here we have the same 



SPELLING 6 

combination of four letters pronounced in five different 
ways. 

Attempts have been made to formulate rules for spell- 
ing; and some half-dozen of these hold fairly well, al- 
though each has numerous exceptions. Such rules may 
be found in most dictionaries and spelling books. They 
are, however, of little use. Every word has to be learned 
by itself. Still, these rules, while of little use, are of some 
use, and should be learned by every child before leaving 
the eighth grade. 

Simplified Spelling. Spelling, of course, changes nat- 
urally year by year, as one can easily see by comparing 
the quaint spelling found in an old copy of the Bible 
with modern spelling. One notices this particularly in 
comparing our spelling with that of Chaucer. But the 
changes are not very rapid and are more likely to be 
illogical than logical. Our chances for getting a better 
spelling by natural means are, therefore, very poor in- 
deed. 

A great many thoughtful people feel this way about 
it, and a few years ago Mr. Carnegie was prevailed upon 
to do something to help the situation. As a consequence 
we have now a Simplified Spelling Board, with paid 
officers, and headquarters at No. 1 Madison Avenue, 
New York City. This board is busy trying, not to de- 
vise a new system, but to make spelling more consistent 
and regular. For instance, they make catalogue appear 
as catalog, dipped as dipt, and through as thru. All of 
these changes make for simplicity; and while they look 
odd to this generation, the present forms that we use 
would look just as odd to boys and girls if they had been 
taught the new forms. Oddity is altogether dependent 
upon what one is accustomed to. 



6 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Copies of these lists may be secured by writing to the 
address given above. It is a good thing for people to use 
the simplified forms in their private correspondence; and 
if we could get children to use them, they would not 
think that kist was any more peculiar than kissed. It 
will be a considerable trouble for us who have' learned 
the old way to adopt the simplified spelling; but if we 
are willing to take the burden upon our shoulders, the 
next generation will spell as we wish them to. In one 
generation the present teaching corps could make the 
complete change. 

Summary. English spelling is very irregular. There are few 
rules for spelling that will hold. The work of the Simplified 
Spelling Board is worthy of the enthusiastic support of intel- 
ligent teachers. 

Course of Study. There are thousands of words in 
the English language — so many, in fact, that we cannot 
expect children to study all of them. So the important 
question arises. What words shall we study in school .? 
These words, when selected, form what we call the 
course of study in spelling. Pretty nearly everybody 
agrees that the words to be chosen should be common 
words. But there are, among those who compile spell- 
ing-books, very different ideas of what are common 
words. For instance, diocesan^ calligraphy, and irides- 
cent are included in some lists. As a matter of fact, the 
early spellers tried to get, not common words, but repre- 
sentative words; and later spellers have retained many 
of these because they were once the fashion. 

Some spelling books, however, have lists of much sim- 
pler words; for instance, the Milwaukee list, which is 
composed of the actual words misspelled by pupils in 
their class work. 



SPELLING 7 

There are three sources from which to draw material 
for spelling lists. The first of these is the speller. But 
often the words in it are unknown to the children. At- 
tempts to remedy this difficulty have been made, as in 
the Bailey-Manly Speller, by putting each word in a sen- 
tence; or as in the Chancellor Speller, where the mean- 
ings of words are given as in a dictionary. But, at best, I 
believe that the teaching of unusual words to children 
is largely a waste of time. We learn to know words in 
their contexts, and it is artificial to manufacture con- 
texts. When the speller is used, all words not under- 
stood by the children should be crossed out as not yet 
worthy an expenditure of time and effort. 

A second source from which to draw lists for spelling 
is the books that the pupils use in reading, history, and 
geography. Difficult words may be selected by the 
teacher and made the basis for study. This is certainly 
better than the use of unknown words in spellers. The 
trouble in using such lists is that it takes time to select 
the words. I found by experience in my rural school, 
however, that the amount of time need not be very 
great. I used to mark from six to ten words in less than 
a minute by having the pupils, while I named line and 
word, follow closely and put a pencil dot under each 
word named. Some teachers, moreover, with classes 
above the fourth grade, require their pupils to know 
how to spell every word in the lesson, and spend a min- 
ute or so at the beginning of the lesson in testing a few 
words selected at random. 

For the country school the latter is probably a better 
plan than to take the time to put the words on the 
board. It might seem that a class could not be held re- 
sponsible for every word in a whole lesson; but, if that 



8 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

difficulty were present, then a part of the lesson — a 
paragraph or a page or a section — might be set. 

A third method of selecting words is to make up the 
list from the words misspelled by the children. In using 
this list, the teacher is sure that the children know what 
the words mean, and that they realize, at least as far as 
these words are concerned, the necessity for drill. This 
double assurance is of much importance in the justifica- 
tion of a method in spelling. If a pupil is to be judged 
by his ability to spell when he is writing letters or 
themes, he will realize that when he fails to spell cor- 
rectly he ought to learn the word. On the other hand, 
if the word he is called upon to spell is not one that he 
uses in his writing, he will think it does not matter a 
great deal whether he can spell it or not. 

This may seem to be too lax a standard; but its laxity 
is, indeed, only seeming. If we read, we do not need to 
spell — we need only to recognize the word; and if we 
never write the word, our needs in this respect are not 
increased. Recognizing words is just like recognizing 
people. If I have to paint the picture of a friend, I must 
know the length of his nose, the color of his eyes, etc. I 
can easily recognize him, however, without being able 
to tell accurately any one of these details. Thus I do not 
need to spell a word unless it is in the vocabulary I use 
when I write; in reading it is enough to recognize it. 

The difficulty with this method is that it takes time 
to pick out the words and put them on the board. One 
teacher with a small class had a class *' secretary" who 
collected all the misspelled words marked by the teacher 
in the written work and wrote the list on the board once 
a week for class study. It was a seventh-grade class, 
and they did not make many errors in a week. This 



SPELLING 9 

difficulty of time is not serious, for certainly the words 
commonly misspelled by the children ought to be drilled 
upon from time to time. 

Summary. Spelling lists may be made up (1) from spelling 
books, in which case the list is not likely to fit the needs of the 
pupils very well; (2) from hard words in the reading matter in 
each subject ; (3) from the actual errors the pupils make in 
their written work. If the speller is prescribed, the teacher has 
no alternative; but whenever possible he should select his lists 
from reading material and written work. 

Where should Spelling begin? As a general proposi- 
tion, spelling work should not begin before the third 
grade. I mention the third grade because that is where 
pupils begin to write stories. In the first and second 
grades they either copy work or ask the teacher how to 
spell words. And all this time they are, of course, learn- 
ing informally how to spell, and picking up letter orders. 
In the third grade, however, they read more widely and 
write more freely, and this is where attention should be- 
gin to be paid to spelling. It begins here and ends at the 
grave — in many cases not before that time. 

Children at this age have a very ambitious vocabu- 
lary, many of the words of which they cannot spell; and 
consequently the number of errors is very large. To 
help reduce this number, it is well to have a ** Black 
List," composed of common errors, posted in a conspicu- 
ous place and increased at the rate of two words a day. 
The words to be added should first be studied in the 
class. To misspell any word in this list a second time 
should be held a particularly blundering crime. By this 
careful attention to a very few words each day, a con- 
siderable body of words of which the pupils feel sure is 
slowly built up. 



10 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

^. Interest in Spelling 

One of the most difficult things about the teaching of 
spelhng is keeping children interested in the subject. 
For most children it is a very dry subject, although it 
must be admitted that sonie children enjoy it as much 
as they do any other. It is uninteresting particularly to 
those pupils who have difficulty with it. To them, it is 
very exasperating to have to decide whether the word is 
precede or preceed when their memory is not very dis- 
tinct in the matter and when there is no reason, so far as 
they can see, why it should be one in preference to the 
other. 

Motive. One of our big problems, then, is to get the 
pupils interested in spelling, or to fix conditions so that 
they will have a motive for studying the subject. To 
say that one is interested in a subject is one way of say- 
ing that he has a motive for its study. One may have, 
however, other motives than that of interest — for in- 
stance, need, envy, or avarice. So we may understand 
interest to mean motive in its best sense; and when we 
speak of getting children interested, we mean about the 
same as giving them a motive. 

Immediate Interest. Fortunately for some pupils, 
they like spelling for its own sake. When you ask them 
why they like spelling, their only answer is the emi- 
nently feminine one of "just because." Pupils often 
love the subject because of the infectious enthusiasm of 
a teacher who likes it better than all other subjects, 
or as one among many loved. When a subject is loved 
for its own sake, it is said to be of immediate interest. 
That, then, is a goal attained. So now let us take up a 
harder question. 



SPELLING 11 

Mediate Interest. What will the teacher do when the 
children are not interested in spelling? That is, if there 
is no immediate interest in spelling, how can interest be 
put into the subject? How can mediate interest be 
aroused? Now, if we are looking for a rule, the answer to 
this is very simple, though it is reasonably hard to apply 
the principle. The abstract statement is given very well 
by James as follows: " Any object not interesting in it- 
self may become interesting through becoming associated 
with an object in which an interest already exists.""^ This 
makes a very simple plan for spelling. If the children 
are not interested in spelling, then find something they 
are immediately interested in and associate spelling with 
it. Nothing could be easier to state. Our real trouble 
begins when we try to find things in which the children 
are already interested and to connect spelling with them. 

Nevertheless, the task is not at all impossible, and 
there are two methods quite different in spirit which are 
used in teaching spelling and, indeed, in practically 
every other subject in the course of study. 

Appeal to Generic Values. One of these methods is 
as follows: There are a number of things in which chil- 
dren are interested in a general way. A few of these are 
avoiding punishment, being kept in after school, being 
scolded or praised, and doing what is expected of them. 
The teacher may connect spelling with these. For ex- 
ample, Johnnie may have no interest in his spelling les- 
son; for three consecutive days he has missed six words 
daily. He has no immediate interest in these words. 
The teacher figures it out this way: " I see that Johnnie 
does n't like to be kept in after school." So she says to 

* James's TaXks to Teachers^ p. 94. 



12 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES ] 

Johnnie, ** Unless your lesson is perfect to-morrow, you 
will have to stay in." Now, if Johnnie really loves to 
get out on time, he will probably get up enough interest 
to learn his lesson. Or perhaps the teacher finds that 
Johnnie has an immediate interest in the good opinion 
of his father; and she connects the spelling thereto by 
informing him that unless improvement is made, word 
will be sent home. 

One of the chief difficulties in using this method is to 
find things that really are of immediate interest. For in- 
stance, a teacher used shame, thinking that this was of 
immediate interest. But the boy did not study his spell- 
ing any better. He did not mind the sarcasm of the 
teacher. We may think that a twelve-year-old will be 
shamed by staying in after school, by sitting with the 
girls, by being suspended, or by getting a whipping; but 
unless these are things about which he cares, they will 
furnish no motive for his studying anything in which he 
is not interested. 

We call such interests as we have mentioned generic 
because they apply to a whole class. One can get chil- 
dren interested in spelling, history, geography, or arith- 
metic by the same general motive. The generic value 
works equally well in any place. 

In this connection, contests may be mentioned as one 
generic value to which appeal is widely made. Spelling 
matches do engender a great deal of interest, even 
among those who have no hopes of remaining long on 
the floor. Spelling bees help, also; and contests between 
schools do much for interest in the subject. 

Summary. In getting mediate interest in spelling, one 
method is to make an appeal to certain generic values which 
are of immediate interest to the pupils. 



SPELLING 13 

Appeal to Specific Need. We must not introduce too 
many technical terms in the first chapter, but unfor- 
tunately spelling is such a broad subject that we need 
to discuss practically all the technical terms contained 
in the theory of teaching. However, there is only one 
more group of terms that will present any difficulty; and 
these, I hope, will not be very hard. 

I said above that the second method of securing me- 
diate interest was quite the reverse of the first, which has 
just been referred to as a method by which appeal is 
made to a generic value of some sort. 

This second method proceeds as follows: In seeking 
for the thing of immediate interest, the only point to be 
added to the foregoing is to consider the function or use 
of spelling. That is, instead of resorting to the fear of 
whipping or scolding, or the love of approbation, as mo- 
tives, and seizing upon them in a haphazard way, stop 
and ask yourself, " What is the use of spelling? " Your 
answer will be, '* To help express something of value in 
writing and to help to get valuable ideas from the 
printed page." Then should we not connect spelling 
with reading and writing, and not with fear of punish- 
ment or of scolding? 

What we have to do is to see that the children have an 
immediate interest in writing and in reading. If they 
are really interested in what they write, they will be 
sorry to be misunderstood because of poor spelling. The 
case of the heavey horse mentioned above is a good illus- 
tration. I venture to say that the man who wrote that 
letter had a strong motive for and felt a keen interest in 
spelling every time he wrote a letter for a long time after. 
Such instances the teacher should collect and keep for 
purposes of inspiration and for the reinforcement of the 



14 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

desire to spell correctly. Instead of saying to Mary, " If 
you do not learn your spelling, you will have a poor 
grade, or I shall tell your mother, or keep you in after 
school," we get her absorbed in reading interesting 
material or in writing valuable things; that is, things 
that to her seem worth the attention of others. If we 
are successful in this we need only say, *' Mary, you 
have missed a fine point because you could n't read this 
word "; or, "You have made a sad mistake because 
you did n't spell correctly." This is harder, of course; 
but it is more fun, and it is more logical because the only 
natural motive for correct spelling is correct communi- 
cation. If we have to, we may fall back upon telling 
mother, or keeping in after school. But until we have 
to resort to such measures, let us give this elusive 
specific need a fair chance. 

How to get children interested in composition work 
is a topic that we shall discuss in full in the chapter on 
language. For in the case of spelling, interest in com- 
position is the kernel of all the seed of effort arising 
from a specific need. (The need in this case is said to be 
specific because it applies only to spelling in its rela- 
tion to one or two things — written words and printed 
words. It is not generic or of general application, as is 
doing one's duty, or the fear of punishment.) 

Summary. Another method is to find out the specific use of 
spelling and apply to spelling the interest found in connection 
with that use. 

Correlation. The plan that advises the arousing of a 
specific need provides for the teaching of spelling along 
with the other subjects. When a boy makes mistakes 
in his spelling, geography, history, or composition, the 



SPELLING 15 

misspelled words are used as spelling-lesson material. 
If he has trouble in understanding what he reads in 
geography, history, or arithmetic, sufficient time is 
spent upon his spelling to enable him to recognize the 
words. 

This plan, of course, is different from one in which 
spelling is studied out of a spelling book with either 
immediate interest or interest aroused by an appeal to 
generic values. This difference is described as being 
in the one case a correlation between spelling and cer- 
tain other subjects, such as history, geography, and 
arithmetic, and in the other case a study of isolated 
spelling. That is all that correlation means — study- 
ing one subject in connection with another. 

Instances of Correlation. It may be objected that if 
spelling is not studied by itself in isolation, the students 
will not spell well. But that does not always seem to be 
true. For, in Philadelphia, a few years ago, Cornman 
had some of his teachers teach spelling in a separate 
period and had others teach it incidentally in connec- 
tion with every subject and never by itself. He found 
after giving the test a rather extensive trial that the 
method whether of correlation or of isolation made 
little or no difference. 

In general, then, one can say that little is lost in 
having correlated spelling, and for the country school 
much time — that most valuable asset — is saved. 
A moment or two spent occasionally on a few words 
in geography, history, or reading will accomplish just 
as much as a specific period every day, and there is a 
saving of just that much time. 

I do not believe it wise, however, to give up the special 
spelling period entirely. There should be some such time 



16 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

when all the misspelled words are brought together 
for special study. The " secretary " I mentioned above 
had as his business the gathering up of all the errors of 
the class. He placed them on the board; and if, when 
the test was given, there were still some words mis- 
spelled, these headed the list for the next week. 

Summary. For the country school, at least, it pays to teach 
spelling for the most part incidentally to other subjects and in 
correlation with them. It saves time and produces as good 
results. But when taught incidentally some time must be put 
on spelling in the diflPerent subjects. 



3. Learning to spell 

Types of Imagery. In talking over our problems we 
have discussed methods of getting interest, the rules of 
spelling, and the function of the subject. But we have 
avoided any reference to methods of studying spelling, 
because that subject is to be taken up in this section. 

The first interesting thing about learning to spell is 
the fact that there are different types of imagery used 
by people who spell. Mental images are of many kinds; 
namely, images of taste, smell, sight, hearing, touch, 
and motor and kinsesthetic images. Of these, three are 
of greatest use in spelling. These are visual, auditory, 
and motor imagery, the last of which originates in the 
muscles that control the fingers and the vocal cords. 

The presence of the auditory images is seen in the 
case of those who say, " The spelling of that word does 
not sound right." They can hear the sounds " in their 
heads," just as many people can hear tunes in their 
heads. The visual image is seen in the case of those who 
say, " That spelling does not look right." They com- 
pare the spelling with a memory picture stored in their 



SPELLING 17 

minds. The motor imagery is seen in the case of people 
who cannot be sure of a spelling until they have spelled 
it over to themselves and have recognized the ** feel " 
in their throats, or have written it out rapidly and al- 
lowed the hand to have full play in the writing. 

Some are visualists, some audiles and others motiles; 
but most people combine all three types, with the visual 
as the strongest. That is, the majority of people, in 
deciding whether a word is right or wrong, spell it 
aloud or, in very obstinate cases, write it out and look 
at it, but usually resort to visual images first. 

This means that, in spelling, a liberal use of all three 
types should be made. The pupils should pronounce 
the words, spell them over to themselves, either aloud 
or under the breath, and write them out. All three are 
effective; and by using them each student will come to 
rely upon the images which for him are most efficient. 

Summary. There are several different types of imagery 
used in varying degrees by different people. Care should be 
taken to see that all types are given a chance in drill work on 
spelling. 

Oral Spelling. The popularity of oral spelling indi- 
cates that it has some value. This value is that it com- 
bines hearing with motor imagery in the vocal organs 
when the pupil spells aloud, and utilizes visual imagery 
when the pupil is tested. For instance, if a boy is asked 
to spell "popular aloud, he has to think how it is spelled, 
and in so doing will probably use visual in addition to 
auditory and motor imagery. Oral spelling is favored as 
a school exercise because it gives the teacher a chance 
to test the pupils without having to examine spelling 
papers after the class is over. It does not give as thorough 
a test as a written exercise, because every pupil does not 



18 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

have to spell every word ; but it is less trouble to a 
teacher, and, taken all in all, it is a method well worth 
using now and then in rapid drills and tests. 

But the important thing to remember always is that 
a pupil's ability to spell is to be judged by his percent- 
age of errors in themes, exercises, and letters which 
have not been written as spelling tests. His ability to 
spell orally is all right as far as it goes, but it does not 
provide a standard for judging his real proficiency. 

Spelling should, therefore, be studied chiefly in writ- 
ten composition. Its use is for writing, and habits should 
be set up with the idea of the word at one end and the 
finger tips at the other, so that when the word is thought 
of, the hand may write it correctly without hesitation. 
If oral spelling is the chief reliance in drill, then we set 
up a habit with the meaning of the word at one end and 
the tongue at the other; but since no one writes with 
his tongue after he is eight years old, this connection is 
not very useful. 

Laws of Habit. Learning to spell is simply a matter 
of habit. What is needed is the ability to write down a 
word as soon as its need occurs without thinking how 
it should be done. For instance, as I write here I think 
of words that I wish to transcribe to paper; and since 
I am a fairly good speller, I am able to write down the 
words correctly spelled without thinking about them 
very much. If I had to stop to think how each word is 
spelled, or to look it up in the dictionary, I would waste 
much valuable time that I can now spend in thinking 
about what I am going to say. 

The ability to write a word without having to think 
about the spelling is spoken of as the ability to spell 
automatically. To set up automatic spelling habits is the 



SPELLING 19 

aim of all attempts to teach the subject. In forming a 
habit of this sort there are just three things to do. The 
statement of method is very simple, although, unfor- 
tunately, it is much harder to perform the work. 

Get a Clear Picture. The first thing to do is to get the 
pupils to pay close attention to the word to be memo- 
rized ; they must get a clear picture of it. The word should 
be written upon the board, or seen in print. The pupils 
should each pronounce the word and write it out for 
themselves once. Incorrect pronunciation explains one 
half the cases of poor spelling. If there is anything un- 
usual about the word, it should be pointed out. For 
instance, if in the word precede, the ede syllable gives 
trouble, that syllable might be written in red chalk, un- 
derlined, or inclosed in a circle. In words of more than 
one syllable the whole word should be syllabicated in 
pronouncing, and the syllables may be written slightly 
apart from one another without a hyphen, as au to mat 
i cat ly. 

Diacritical markings should at some time be taught 
to pupils so that they can interpret pronunciations in the 
dictionary; but they should not be taught in the spell- 
ing lessons. They may be taught in reading. We have 
come to the conclusion between ourselves that words 
that the pupils do not know should not be taught in 
a spelling lesson, and, consequently, diacritical markings 
are not necessary. Then, still worse, words with dia- 
critical marks all over them do not look like the same 
words with the marks off. To us who are grown up, crit'- 
i glze looks like criticize, or 5m' sbrs closely resembles 
scissors. But to little children there is as much differ- 
ence between these forms as there is to you and me 
between a woman with her hat on and the same woman 



20 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

with her hat off. You or I could learn to know her with 
her hat off, yet might be entirely unable to recognize 
her when we met her with it on. 

Some schools, as those of Cleveland, limit the spelling 
list on any one day to two words. By having just two 
a day and ten in a week the children get a clearer view 
of each word than if they had to study ten in one day. 
Milwaukee uses four in each lesson, and it seems fairly 
certain that this is the upper limit. In fact, if two 
words carefully chosen are learned very well each day, 
it will not be long before the student is able to spell all 
the words he uses ordinarily. 

Attentive Repetition. The second thing that the stu- 
dent needs to do is to repeat the spelling words over and 
over. In doing so the lesson may be spelled aloud, 
written out, or spelled to one's self; or it may be re- 
peated in any two of these ways. For instance the 
pupil may write it out, look at it carefully, and spell it 
aloud or under his breath, all as the same exercise. 

But mere repetition amounts to little unless it is at- 
tentive. Boys say that they study a spelling lesson for 
a half -hour, when as a matter of fact they merely- sit 
with a book before their faces for a half-hour and 
perhaps study their spelling five times, for a minute 
at a time, with five-minute periods in between, dur- 
ing which they are thinking of something else. Unless 
the repetition is attentive, it makes the spelling worse 
than it would be if no study were given to it at all. 
The important thing for the teacher is to enlist the 
boys and girls in the campaign for saving time. It can 
easily be shown that by concentrating attention, time 
for play, for reading, and for picture drawing can be 
gained. Have them follow the plan of studying the 



SPELLING 21 

spelling for five minutes, writing, pronouncing under 
the breath, etc., and then leave it alone for a while, — 
perhaps until after they have gone home, — to be followed 
by another siege in the morning. It can be laid down 
as a general principle that a pupil in the grades cannot 
profitably spend more than five minutes on spelling at 
one time. Psychology tells us that we memorize more 
easily if we memorize for a short time, and then leave 
our material for a while, than if we try to do all the mem- 
orizing at once. That is, five minutes at night and 
five minutes in the morning will produce better results 
than ten minutes all at one time. When the child sets 
up as his ideal the rapid and efficient memorizing of 
spelling forms, he can be taught to omit study on the 
easy ones and concentrate on the hard ones by writing, 
pronouncing under his breath, etc.; and he thereby can 
economize effort by studying where it will do the most 
good. He will learn to use his time intelligently instead 
of trying to memorize without intelligence like the pro- 
verbial parrot. 

Profitable repetition is secured in some schools by 
reviewing the same words from day to day, and then, 
after letting them rest for a time, reviewing them again 
at the end of each month till the end of the year. Such 
a plan is very beneficial. 

Spelling should, however, be studied chiefly through 
writing. Its use is for writing, and writing habits should 
be set up as firmly as possible. Part of the method of 
study might be to use the word in proper sentences. 
The only trouble with this is that if a sentence of five 
words is formed, five words must be written to get a 
drill on one. 

Automatic Control. The third important point to 



22 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

bear in mind is that unless the spelling of a word is 
made automatic, all the labor is lost. That is to say, in 
the spelling of superficial as s-u-p-e-r-f-i-c-i-a-l, the letters 
must follow with rapidity or certainty, and without 
thought. It will not do to spell sup and then stumble 
over er, or spell superf and stumble over icial. This is 
very important. If the child cannot do this at one sit- 
ting, he should try it at a second sitting or a third sit- 
ting. In order to make the sequence of letters very 
stable, the words have to be spelled at many different 
times. Reviews are essential, and speed is to be striven 
for at the expense of everything but accuracy. 

This is another reason for not having too many words 
in one lesson; for with many words it is a physical im- 
possibility to make them all automatic within the time 
allowed, and very little real good is accomplished. A 
few words well learned and frequently reviewed make a 
nucleus that broadens rapidly from week to week and 
from year to year. 

Summary. In drilling on words, there are only three 
things to observe: first, a clear initial picture; second, atten- 
tive repetition; and third, repetition enough to make the spell- 
ing automatic. 

Black List. The black list of which I spoke above 
grows in the following way. The pupils in a third grade 
were drilled on two common words a day for a week. 
The next week, ten new words were studied, together 
with the ten old words. In the third week ten new words 
and the twenty old ones were studied. In the fourth 
week ten new words were added, and the ten of the first 
week dropped. At the end of each six- weeks period all 
the words that had been studied during the year up to 
that time were reviewed again. At the end of the year 



SPELLING 23 

three hundred and sixty words had been well learned. 
Little attention was paid by the teacher to other mis- 
spelled words in any papers written, but the words on 
the list were of peculiar sanctity and were not to be 
missed again after being put there. 

This plan was kept up for six years until the pupil 
had finished the eighth grade. Several times in each 
year the words of former years were reviewed and tested. 
At the end of the eighth grade the pupil had over fifteen 
hundred words, which had been so well selected that 
they comprised practically all his writing vocabulary. 
And what was more interesting, by learning to spell 
some words well, careful spelling habits were set up 
which helped him in spelling many words that he had 
not taken up in his black list. Such a plan as this is not 
difficult to work out and has all the advantages of 
psychology and pedagogy ranged up alongside to help 
make it effective. 

Jf. Class Mechanics 

A few very simple rules may be laid down for han- 
dling spelling recitations. There should be as little for- 
mality as possible. In oral spelling tests, it is not neces- 
sary to have the pupils stand in line. They may sit on 
the front seats, or be grouped in their regular seats. 
Sometimes there may be "spelling down" for the sake of 
variety. 

But whenever a test is being given, the words should 
be pronounced distinctly by the teacher, and only once 
except for good cause. The pronunciation should not 
be artificial to bring out a spelling, as pronouncing cup- 
hoard as kup-bord instead of kuberd. 

When a pupil is to spell a word orally, he should pro- 



24 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

nounce the word first so that there will be certainty 
that he has the correct word; he does not need to pro- 
nounce the word after it has been spelled, because there 
is no use in doing so. He should not pronounce syllables 
before spelling them, as our forefathers used to do, and 
as a few teachers still do. It is not necessary to spell 
thus: 6-a, 6a, k-e-r, ker^ baker. It is enough to do it thus: 
baker, b-a-k-e-r. 

When written exercises have been set and completed, 
the teacher can save time in correcting by having the 
pupils change books or slates and, as she spells, mark 
the incorrect spellings. After the errors have been 
totaled, the books are handed back to the owners. 
Children seldom cheat. They do, sometimes, make 
mistakes; and for these the teacher must watch. After 
the errors have been noted by the pupils who made them, 
the words misspelled should be put in a special book and 
studied outside of class, in preparation for the next 
lesson. Sometimes it is a good practice to have them 
write out each of the words they erred in, in correct 
form ten times attentively. Sometimes it is better not to 
set a limit, but to say to the class, " Write them out 
until you are sure you know them." 

In incidental spelling, plans for marking words have 
been discussed. In spelling lists made up from incorrect 
words in written work, plans for collecting the words 
have already been given. But in all of them it is im- 
portant to remember always that there is no set formal 
method of conducting any recitation. What is wanted is 
to get things done with as little waste of time and as 
little confusion as possible; and the simpler everything 
can be made, the better. 

Alternation. By alternation is meant that two grades 



SPELLING 25 

study together and take the work of the one grade one 
year and the work of the other grade the second year. 
SpeUing is one of the subjects which can very well be 
alternated. When a special spelling class is taught, the 
sixth, seventh, and eighth grades can take the same 
work at the same time. The eighth-grade pupils are 
not so much better than the sixth-grade in spelling that 
they cannot study together if care is taken in the selec- 
tion of words. Spelling should also be given a little 
time in each of several other periods each week, and 
particularly in the language work when the * 'Black 
List" may be worked upon. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Black. Primary Methods, vol. ii, pp. 154-66. (General in- 
formation about spelling in the primary grades.) 

BuENHAM. The Hygiene and Psychology of Spelling, Pedagogi- 
cal Seminary, vol. xiii, pp. 481-89. (Types of imagery.) 

Charters. Methods of Teaching, pp. 158-71. (Generic and 
specific values, and the idea of need.) 

James. Talks to Teachers, pp. 91-99. (How to get interest.) 

Pyle. Outlines of Educational Psychology, pp. 146-58. (The 
formation of habits.) 

Rocheleau. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, vol. ii, pp. 
199-208. (Spelling in the upper grades.) 

Wallin. Spelling Efficiency, pp. 1-25, 82-84. (Rules for 
teaching spellmg and discussion of incidental and formal 
spelling.) 

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. (List of rules with excep- 
tions.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Examine four spellers and criticize them (by criticize we 
mean always the mentioning of both bad and good) on the 
following points : — 

(a) Number of words per lesson. 

{b) Frequency of reviews. 

(c) Familiar and common words. 

{d) Diacritical marks. 



26 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

2. Give six examples of a case in which what was written 
was misunderstood because a word was misspelled. 

3. Should children be allowed to use their dictionaries 
when they are writing themes? Why? If they may use them, 
should they be required to use them? If so, in what grades? 

4. Should an eighth-grade pupil ever be excused from hand- 
ing in incorrectly spelled work except on examinations? What 
are your reasons? 

5. Give five sets of examples wherein the same letters have 
different sounds, and five sets in which the same sounds are 
represented by different letters. 

6. Write out and memorize the rules about dropping final e 
and about doubling consonants. Gather a few exceptions to 
each. 

7. Write to the Simplified Spelling Board at 1 Madison 
Avenue, New York City, and ask the Secretary to send you 
the printed lists of simplified words. Are you willing to adopt 
these for your own correspondence? Why? 

8. Take Webster's Blue Back, or any other of the older 
spellers, and pick out twenty-five words which you are sure 
pupils would never use in writing, unless they secured a col- 
lege education. 

9. Let the class in pedagogy take all the written work (ex- 
cept spelling exercises) of a sixth-grade class for one day. Pick 
out all the errors and tabulate them. Arrange them alpha- 
betically and notice how many times each was misspelled. Esti- 
mate the total number of words written by all the class and 
determine what per cent was incorrectly spelled. Was this 
good or poor spelling? If you were going to make to-morrow's 
spelling list from these words, which ones would you select? 

10. What generic values appealed most strongly to you when 
you were in the grades? Which now? How do yours differ 
from those of others in the class? 

11. How can you get children interested in spelling through 
the specific need for the subject? 

12. What should be the nature of spelling in the first two 
grades? 

13. Ought a teacher to lower a grade in arithmetic or his- 
tory because the spelling is bad? Why? If he does n't, what 
effect will it have on the spelling work? If he does, what effect 
will it have on the arithmetic or history work? 

14. Make a study of your own imagery in deciding how you 
tell when a word is correctly spelled. For instance, pick out 
some word that you have difficulty with, and having decided 



SPELLING 27 

which spelling is correct, study your imagery and decide 
whether you went by visual, auditory, or vocal motor or 
hand motor imagery. 

15. What has been your best method of studying spelling.^ 
Make this a class exercise and note any tricks any of your 
classmates use in learning spelling. 

16. What would you do if you had a speller in your school 
in which there were many words that the pupils do not under- 
stand? If there are ten or more words in a lesson, ought you 
to cut some of them out.? Dare you discard the spelling book.? 

17. What do you think about teaching roots as an aid in 
spelling.? Is the time well spent.? Why.? 

18. What are the advantages of spelling contests with 
neighboring schools.? With fathers and mothers in the dis- 
trict.? What are their limitations.? 

19. Have you ever tried the "Black List" idea? If you try 
it soon, write and tell me about it. Keep a list of all your 
words. I am anxious to gather a large number of cases in 
which it has been worked successfully, and in which it has 
failed, with the reasons why. 



CHAPTER II 

PENMANSHIP 

1. Subject-M alter 

Function. There is a widespread idea that the func 
tion of subjects is to train the memory, the imagination; 
or the reason. Why study arithmetic? some one asks 
" Because it trains one to think closely,'* says the 
teacher. Why study history .? " To train the memory.' 
Why study writing? " To make one neat and accurate.' 

But did you ever stop to think about this? Did the 
people who invented arithmetic do it to get a device for 
training the reasoning? Or does the man who consults 
history use it just to train his memory? Or was writing 
invented as a means to neatness and accuracy? As a 
matter of fact, arithmetic was invented not to train the 
powers of reasoning, but to help men to handle numbers. 
History was not invented to train the memory, but to 
give advice and entertainment from the experiences of 
the past. And in like manner the function of writing is 
not to train in neatness, but to do something else. 

It is true, of course, that arithmetic does give mental 
training, and so do history and penmanship. But that 
is not their real or intrinsic function; it is only a by- 
product. It is not the use for which people are preserving 
them. It is only an indirect purpose about which we 
make a great deal of to-do in school. Why we talk about 
this training or disciplinary function is a long story 
which we cannot tell here. 

The real or intrinsic function of penmanship is to 



PENMANSHIP 29 

help in the communication of values by providing a set 
of letters made after a conventional form. The function 
back of writing is the desire to communicate. Communi- 
cation may be set up through oral speech, drawings, 
hieroglyphics, or words; but when we decide to use 
words and attempt to give them a definite form, we 
write. The function of penmanship is, then, to attend 
to the forms of letters. A person may be a good speller, 
because he knows the correct order of letters in words; 
but he may be a poor writer because he is clumsy and in- 
accurate in forming the letters. So, also, a man may be 
good in composition, but poor in writing. And as hap- 
pens not infrequently, beautiful writers may be poor 
spellers or poor in composition work. If all knowledge 
and efficiency consisted merely in getting the correct 
form for letters, a man would be judged a success or a 
failure by one look at his handwriting. But it is only 
one item in all knowledge and would be of very little use 
where people talked over the telephone, spoke face to 
face, or used a typewriter. However, everybody finds 
it necessary to communicate ideas by writing, because 
either the one to be addressed is not present, or no type- 
writer is at hand. 

Summary. The function of penmanship is to assist in the 
communication of values by providing correct forms for the 
letters. 

Standards. The standard of good writing follows di- 
rectly from this summary. Writing is well done when it 
conveys in the best manner possible the values con- 
cerned, and it does this by providing a form that can be 
easily read, that looks well, and can be easily produced. 
Or, to use the technical terms, the standards of good 
penmanship are, on the side of form, legibility and 



30 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

beauty, and, on the side of the penman, rapidity. A 
rapid, legible, and good-looking hand is the ideal toward 
which to work. 

There are two qualities of penmanship. The one is 
the result of a conscious effort to do one's best, the other 
is the hand written under normal conditions and with- 
out unusual care. These two grades of writing are usu- 
ally quite dissimilar — one's natural hand is seldom 
one's best hand. 

But are we to judge of a pupil's penmanship by his 
best hand or by his natural hand? Obviously it de- 
pends upon whether we want his dress-parade writing 
or his shop writing. But, for practical purposes, the 
student must be judged by his natural hand. This is the 
hand he uses most of the time, and it is, therefore, the 
vehicle by which most of his written ideas are conveyed 
to others. If it is diflficult for others to get his ideas 
ninety-nine per cent of the time when he is writing his 
natural hand, it will not matter a great deal how well he 
may be able to write in the negligible remaining one per 
cent. He is a good writer who, writing briskly, is able 
to put, first, a legible and, secondly, a good-looking, hand 
on paper every time he writes. An excellent copy-book 
writer may or may not be a good writer; for a good 
writer is one who writes well for his associates. 

Thorndike's Standards. To get a standard for writing. 

Professor Thorndike made an investigation of over one 

thousand samples of writing and secured the opinion of 

from twenty-three to fifty-five judges on these. As a 

result he and they have worked out a standard form for 

grades five to eight which is here appended.^ Perfect 

^ Acknowledgment is made to the Columbia University Press, and 
to Professor E. L. Thorndike for kind permission to use the Thorn- 
dike Handwriting Scale. 



Quality 13. Sample 4 






Quality 12. Sample 30 
Quality 12. Samples 7 and 52 



Quality 11. Samples 23 and 45 








^^^^ c^tC^Z^-T'^y^^/z-i^^^^^-Z^ 



SCALE A 

A SCALE FOR HANDWRITING OF CHILDREN 
IN GRADES 5 TO 81 

The unit of the scale equals approximately one tenth of tlie differ- 
ence between the best and worst of tlie formal writings of 1000 chil- 
dren in grades 5-8. The differences lG-15, 15-14, 14-18, etc., repre>.( nt 
equal fractions of the combined mental scale of merit of from i'J to 
55 competent judges. 

Quality i8. Sample 125 

yoJixnAMA, tA/xt tJu, /Ua^ curocL -faXi o^ tPu, ticL^ 
ttvL atOvcudtAxm, of IAjl nryvoxm, a^^nxL AAjunri, ccfuyrL 

Quality 17. Sample 141 

hjiJ/d/ ovU/ 0/ vwvcuH' coAXt , WiAi/ oro/KuUiAxyCt fit- 
Quality 16. Samples 32 and 84 



^ Oyon^cTO^^fuX-i^ ycnAyC y<z/.y<Lo^ny<yi'^^ 



Quality 15. Samples 49 and 89 
' These samples are reduced one half from the Thorndike scale. 



Quality 15. Samples 47 and 90 



Quality 14. Samples 54 and 19 



Quality 13. Sample 4 



Quality 13. Samples 55, 24, and 26 



Quality 12. Sample 30 
ytt^Jk/tui ^iyyiltt H^-ciAM^^yuj c-isiMAXin^v a^yu^Cy^'cC if-uJ- cu 

Quality 12. Samples 7 and 52 



t</(w/VU>L Vl,^ Af^A^JiMA (Mivd, W^u. OOuVV cVO* \'\J^OVl/^ 



(WdMvQ CA/OwTa, tXw. iVtAArttVOiAj. "^ ■^rm. 0^/ivtAA</i**<» 






.a 



Quality 11. Samples 23 and 45 

.,<pC^yiyuCou--ct^ 



(JZ-^ Cl.« a>Ug<yv<i^ 







PENMANSHIP 31 

writing is called quality 17, illegible writing is called 
zero quality, and in between these are 18 qualities. 

A teacher may not agree with these rankings. But 
since they are the opinion of from twenty-three to fifty- 
five different people, they are more likely to be correct 
than the teacher's individual opinion. 

In testing handwriting by these samples, the teacher 
should move the sample up and down along the score 
card until a point is found at which the quality above is 
better than the sample, and the quality below is poorer. 
This will indicate the quality of the sample. 

The values of this scale are many. Its particular and 
chief value is that you can make a boy compare himself 
with himself. This can be done in two ways at least. 
He can have his best hand graded and shown to be 
quality 12; he can then grade his natural hand, perhaps 
finding it to be 9. In this numerical comparison the 
teacher and the boy have proof positive of his degener- 
ate habits, and a motive is furnished the boy to raise his 
natural hand to 11 at least. Or a second sort of compari- 
son may be made. The boy's natural hand in Septem- 
ber may be 8. A standard of excellence may be set for 
him as 9, then 10, then 11, then 12, and finally 13; for I 
agree with Thorndike that the time spent in raising a 
child's hand above 13 is probably not wisely spent. 

It is, of course, possible by this grading system to com- 
pare the work of one school with that of another, or the 
work of one room with that of another, or to decide 
who is the best or the poorest writer in the school. But 
its best value is to set pupils to competing with them- 
selves. 

A Double Standard. It is possible to have two stand- 
ards of writing. A pupil may be jotting down things 



Quality ii. Sample to6 



Quality 9. Samples 31, 21, and 28 

Quality 8. Samples 14 and 48 
^'^'VsVLiui- aJLjrrva c^oJVvTrv "'^i^J- c^JXOV^jiJVm , cf?\s^ 



Quality 7. Sample 126 






Quality 6. Sample 12 






Quality 5. Sample 6 



Quality 4. Sample 121 



yo 






32 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

rapidly and in such a way that he has neither the time 
nor the inclination to write legibly. He may be getting 
ready to write a paper, or he may be drafting the solu- 
tion to an arithmetic problem. In such cases, if the writ- 
ing is not permanent, or intended for others to see, it 
does not matter so much about the quality of the writ- 
ing, provided it can be read by the writer. 

But if the writing is to be permanent, it should be 
legible; for a month later, when the pupil has occasion 
to use it again, he should be able to read it without loss 
of effect and poise. Or, if it is to be handed to the teacher, 
or read by other pupils, then it must be legible. Polite- 
ness demands that the reader be not taxed unduly, and 
business sense requires legibility so that mistakes will 
not occur. Any writing less than number 9 on the 
Thorndike scale is dangerous and should not be per- 
mitted except under protest. 

Summary. There may be two standards — the scratch- 
pad standard and the polite standard. A pupil should not be 
judged severely on the appearance of his writing when it is 
temporary and for himself. But when some one else is to read 
it, or when it saves something for himself later, it is impera- 
tive that the penmanship be legible. 

Structure. The function of penmanship is, as we 
have said, to provide forms of letters. It is interest- 
ing to notice how these forms are constructed. Dif- 
ferent nations have different forms. For instance, the 
words, I gave him money, appear in German script as 



In English there are several systems of letter forms. 
The Spencerian system, which was dominant for many 
years, has seven elements which combine into rather 



PENMANSHIP 33 

ornate letter forms. This system and other later sys- 
tems have many advocates. The later forms have 
given us a more hygienic sitting position, and simpler 
letters. 

But for the graded school, and particularly for the 
rural school, it does not make much difference which 
system is used. Good writers can be secured by any 
system. For the expert there may be a best system; but 
for the pupil in the grades sufficient legibility, beauty, 
and speed can be secured by any system. 

Movements in Writing. When penmanship is taught, 
it has to be thought of both as a system of letters and 
as a system of muscular movements. For while there 
are involved only eleven elements in the whole Spen- 
cerian system of letter forms, there are involved some 
five hundred separate muscles in writing a simple sen- 
tence. The word cat is a very simple word, so far as 
form is concerned; but if you will write it out and note 
carefully the movements taken by the fingers, hand, 
wrist, forearm, upper arm, and shoulders, you will not 
need to be further convinced that the muscular opera- 
tions are very complex. 

And just as we have several systems of letter forms, 
so we have several systems of movements and positions 
in writing. The Spencerian system required for bodily 
position that the pupil sit with his right side to the desk. 
This and other requirements were held to be unhy- 
gienic; and now there are no systems, so far as I know, 
which do not have much the same bodily position, 
namelj^ body facing the desk equally, soles of feet rest- 
ing on the floor, and paper square with the edge of the 
writing service. 

For grade purposes the chief emphasis in bodily posi- 



34 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

tion must be laid upon the freedom it gives the lungs 
and the avoidance of cramping positions. These are 
essentials, while much that the advocates of different 
systems argue about are not essential. 

The grade teacher's situation is this : She is not going 
to train expert penmen of the quality of 17 in the 
Thorndike standards. She is anxious to make rather 
fluent writers whose natural hand approximates the 
legibility of 12 or 13. 

So I am firmly convinced that the system makes com- 
paratively little difference. The vertical system pro- 
duces legibility, but so does the Spencerian system. 
Perhaps if either style of letters was adhered to very 
closely, there might be some difference in legibility; but 
children do not need to follow systems accurately. As 
long as their writing is legible, little else matters, as far 
as form is concerned. The point is, that by any system 
of writing one can make good writers. Perhaps one sys- 
tem is better than another in legibility, in speed, and in 
good looks; but nobody has yet proved that one is better; 
and until this can be demonstrated, a teacher is safer in 
using the system already taught the children than in 
changing to a new one. 

The Course of Study. When should children begin to 
write? There is a stage in penmanship which may be 
called drawing, when the children slowly and labo- 
riously copy the words. This drawing may begin as soon 
as the children enter school. Later, when consider- 
able facility has been gained in this, special attention 
may be given to writing as writing. This will be in the 
third grade when the pupils begin writing composi- 
tions extensively. In all grades from the beginning, 
attention should be paid to the position of the body; and 



PENMANSHIP 35 

as fast as possible the pupils should be taught the proper 
method of gripping the pencil or crayon. 

Copy Book. Copy books should be used as reference 
books. They show the correct form of letters. Set ex- 
ercises written in them are worth while. In such exer- 
cises the bottom line should be written first, and then 
the one above, so that children will not copy their own 
work. 

However, copy books should not be the sole means of 
securing good writing. The best results come when the 
pupils' errors are drilled upon. There are two alterna- 
tives in writing drills. One is to write a page full of such 
a sentence as " Honesty is the best policy " in the best 
hand possible. The other is to study the child's hand- 
writing and decide on some letter that needs to be im- 
proved and to practice upon that. For instance, the 

children may write the word yCClc/ thus, X^C^ . This 
shows the need of drill upon a. The whole drill of one 
period may possibly be upon this letter, after a manner 
laid down in a later section. The correction of errors in 
handwriting is practical and will show an immediately 
direct effect. 

Writing is like keeping one's health. Most of us know 
a few general health laws, and a few special facts about 
colds, grippe, measles, etc. With these we can keep 
healthy enough for all practical purposes. But we know 
no system of medicine or hygiene, and we do not need one 
for practical purposes. If health training were our voca- 
tion, we should need to have a system; but it is not, 
and so we do not need the system. 

The parallel with writing is close. We need a few 
general facts about position, movement, and legibility. 
We need some special facts about our chief troubles, 



36 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

such as closing o's, straightening d's, etc. These spe- 
cial facts concern our personal penmanship " diseases " 
to which we are peculiarly susceptible. With these 
in mind we can develop facility in writing a legible 
hand. 

Summary. The work taken up in the spelling drills should 
be dependent upon what the pupils seem to need most ur- 
gently at the time. Copy books should be used as reference 
books, but only a comparatively small amount of drill time 
should be spent upon them. 



2. How to get Interest 

Immediate Interest. The parallel between spelling 
and writing is close. The methods and conditions of 
securing interest are of the same type. We have, first of 
all, the possibility of pupils having an immediate inter- 
est in writing. There are a few such in every school. 
There are many more who like to write, but who do not 
like to take special instruction in writing; and there are 
a number who do not like to write under any conditions. 
It is these latter classes that furnish the problem of 
arousing interest, since, if the pupils were already 
interested in writing, there would be no problem of 
motive. 

Thomdike's Tests as Means of securing Interest. 
The use of the score card helps materially. For in- 
stance, Susie may write poorly to-day. Her writing 
may be compared with the card and judged as quality 
9. She may be asked to bring it up to 10. This is not so 
vague as asking her to do better. Perhaps Willie has 
been writing at 12 and drops to 10. His specimens can 
be compared with the score card and the differences 
expressed numerically. Again, the teacher may handle 



PENMANSHIP 37 

the whole class by grading on a given date and telling 
the pupils that the whole room average is to rise to, say, 
11 or 12, or to some other standard that is easily within 
their reach. 

The incentive here is the same incentive that the 
corn-grower has in trying to improve his breed of corn 
to make it come to standard. But the task is easier be- 
cause, while the breeder sees improvement only as sea- 
son follows season, the writer can make improvement 
every day. 

Mediate Interest. Again, referring to our parallel 
with spelling, we find that mediate interest may be se- 
cured by an appeal to generic values. We may say, 
" Your grade depends upon your writing; if you do not 
improve your writing, you will have to stay in." This is 
a method commonly used, and, of course, known to all 
our readers. 

But we may, as in spelling, make our approach by 
way of the specific function of the subject. In the case 
of penmanship, the function, as we saw above, is to pro- 
duce legible characters rapidly. 

If the child can be shown that he is being misunder- 
stood because he does not write legibly, then, if he 
wants to be understood, he will be careful. 

You may have heard of that Chicago gentleman who 
decided to take his wife to the matinee, and after getting 
the tickets he sent a messenger to the house with the 
message, " I have gotten tickets for the matinee. Meet 
me at the, — etc." When he went to meet his wife, he 
found her there with eight lady guests. Drawing her to 
one side, he inquired the reason for this generosity on 
her part; and on reading again the note he had written 
her, he found that instead of saying, " I have gotten 



38 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

tickets," etc., he had really written, " I have got ten 
tickets," etc. Doubtless in the future he was more care- 
ful about his penmanship. 

The more frequently it can be borne in upon a class 
that their illegible writing is handicapping them in tell- 
ing what they want to tell, the easier it will be to get 
them working upon their writing. A teacher should 
have too much self-respect to consent to read careless 
handwriting that is hard to read. 

A Writing Hospital. A yery satisfactory plan of deal- 
ing with the writing situation is found in what the chil- 
dren call a writing hospital. The idea is this : In the 
sixth to eighth grades it is felt that children write poorly, 
either because they do not know how to write well, or 
because they are careless. Both these causes are taken 
care of by the hospital in the following manner : If for any 
cause a pupil in a class does unsatisfactory writing, he is 
put into a special writing class. All the instruction in 
penmanship is given in this class. A pupil is put in 
because something is wrong with his writing, and he 
remains until he has improved. If his trouble is careless- 
ness, a week in the class, while his more careful class- 
mates are at work upon more attractive material, usually 
cures him. If his trouble is not carelessness, but an in- 
ability to write, special attention can be given to his 
errors and to drill upon correct forms. 

The hospital can be worked by having all writing 
taken together for the grades from six to eight. Those 
who write legibly and with facility do not need special 
drill. Those who are erratic in their writing may be 
sent in at any time and remain until their written work 
outside comes up to the standard of the class. The test 
in each case should be based not on writing done in the 



PENMANSHIP 39 

hospital, but on the quality of written work done dur- 
ing the day in every subject. 

Correlation. In writing, as in spelling, the greatest 
gain in training comes in maintaining efficient stand- 
ards in connection with other subjects. If a teacher re- 
fuses to accept illegible work in geography, composition, 
or history, half the battle for legible writing is fought. 
If the boy knows that he has to go into the hospital in 
the upper grades whenever he grows slovenly in his 
writing, he will improve wonderfully. In other words, 
the trouble with writing is seventy-five per cent careless- 
ness, and the other twenty-five per cent can be easily 
taken care of by special instruction.' Cure carelessness 
and the problem is solved. 

Carelessness must be cured in the correlated subjects. 
The teacher may demand the rewriting of careless work. 
She may represent illegible writing as the source of awk- 
ward, even dangerous, mistakes, or as a form of impo- 
liteness. It may be necessary to resort to low grades, 
or to detention after school. But at any cost careless- 
ness must be cured. 

3. How to study Writing 

General Laws. The laws for study of writing are the 
same as those for spelling. The first thing necessary is 
that the pupils have a clear idea of the letter forms. 
They should look at them, and make them in the air in 
the early grades. They should note the peculiarities of 
the different letters with which they have trouble. The 
mistake may lie in making the d stem a loop, or in leav- 
ing out the down stroke of the a, and thus making it 
like 0. 



40 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Here the copy book is of use in showing the correct 
form, and the teacher should also put this correct form 
on the board. 

In passing, it may be said that unless a teacher has a 
legible hand himself, it is quite futile for him to try to 
teach children legibility. In some schools I have been 
ashamed of the scrawls of teachers, and have felt indig- 
nant when boys and girls who wrote better than the 
teacher were reprimanded for not writing legibly. It is 
as foolish for a careless teacher to scold pupils for care- 
lessness as it is for a father who swears to whip his boys 
for swearing. 

Besides having a clear idea of the form of the letter, 
the pupils should have clear ideas as to the proper posi- 
tion to take, the proper way to hold the pencil, and the 
proper way to make forearm movements. Unless these 
are clearly in mind the pupils cannot drill upon them. 
Infinite care should be taken by the teacher in demon- 
strating all the details. The pupils should be shown ex- 
actly how to hold the pen, and time taken to show this in 
detail is time well taken. 

The second factor is attentive repetition. Exercises 
should be short. It is worse to allow the pupils to prac- 
tice poor forms than it is to have no practice at all. 
Short, crisp exercises only should be indulged in. 

Each poor writer's handwriting should be examined 
for errors, just as a patient's body is examined by a doc- 
tor for disease. Medical examinations are necessary be- 
fore the doctor knows what to do. When he has found 
out what is wrong, he can begin to give exercises and 
medicines that will cure the trouble. So in writing, a 
specimen should be diagnosed. For instance, let us take 
the specimen marked as Quality 6 in Thorndike's scale, 



PENMANSHIP 41 

and see what needs to be done to improve it. Careful 
study shows it a difficult case to handle. Some rather 
obvious improvements can be made, however. The let- 
ters are all present and most of the parts of letters, the 
only serious exception being the small horizontal curve 
in the w in away. The following are two points of error : 
(1) not written to line at bottom, (2) ovals of a and d too 
much worked over. There are other troubles, but these 
are the two needing first attention. The pupil who used 
this handwriting should have exercises for getting all his 
letters on a line at the base, and upon the formation of 
the oval in a, d, g, etc. A boy might have just one of 
these troubles pointed out and drilled upon at first and 
for some time, before a second is undertaken. Then 
another should be added and practiced effectively. 

The third factor is repetition sufficient to make the 
movement automatic. Without this automatism much 
time is lost. But the results are not so serious in spell- 
ing because the forms of letters are much easier to recol- 
lect than is the order of letters in words. 



^. Class Mechanics 

Drill Directions. The mechanics of any class 
must be very simple. Where a special exercise is given, 
orders will expedite practice. For instance, if the oval a 
is being practiced by the group, and if the letter is 
divided and numbered as follows, (1) {^ and (2)w^, then 
the teacher may say, 1-2, 1-2, getting thereby a string 
of a^s, and at the same time getting more concentrated 
practice than would be secured through undirected prac- 
tice by each pupil separately. 

Orders and directions should be clear and pointed. 



42 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

leaving no doubt in the minds of the pupils as to what is 
to be done. 

Class mechanics should be as simple as possible. They 
should seek to give the most practice in the shortest 
time. If there is ten minutes for a writing drill, as little 
time as possible should be spent in getting ready and in 
putting away material; and, while the drill is on, every 
minute should be utilized. 

Alternation. The four upper grades may have a com- 
mon writing period. It may or may not be in " hospital" 
form. But in any case the errors in writing are so com- 
mon that the exercises given to the eighth grade are just 
the same as those given to the fifth. As a matter of fact, 
the fifth-grade pupils write, on the average, a better 
hand than eighth-grade pupils. So all the upper grades 
may have the same writing periods and exercises. In 
the lower grades the work should be all incidental to the 
composition classes and to the other classes that use 
written work, and occasion should be taken in every 
class to teach correct form of both letters and move- 
ment. 

But in both upper and lower grades the writing bat- 
tle is won or lost outside the special writing class, not 
inside. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Black. Primary Methods, vol. ii, pp. 166-83. (Penmanship 

LQ the lower grades.) 
BoYER. Modern Methods for Teachers, pp. 121-27. (Position 

in writing.) 
RocHELEAu. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, vol. ii, pp. 

208-31. (Drill exercises.) 
Thompson. Psychology and Pedagogy of Writing, pp. 81-120. 

(General.) 



PENMANSHIP 43 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Take up two of the common systems of writing and com- 
pare in the following particulars : (a) slant, (b) forms of letters, 
(c) beauty, (d) position of pen, (e) position of body, and (/) 
kind of arm movement. 

2. If you were to change the system of penmanship in a 
school, would you make the change in all the grades, or would 
you change only in first grade ? 

3. Take the natural handwriting in ink of twenty-five pu- 
pils and grade them by the Thorndike standards. Grade 
them three or four times without letting yourself compare 
your gradings till afterward. How closely do your gradings 
agree in each case? 

4. As a class exercise, have other members grade to see how 
closely they agree with you. (As a matter of common prac- 
tice, do stock judges or corn judges agree?) How would you 
arrive at the true rating of the specimens? 

5. Diagnose your own handwriting and state what you 
need to do to improve it. 

6. As you sit at the desk now provided for you, what is the 
natural angle for your paper to lie at? When writing at your 
table at home, what is the natural angle? Does the height of 
the table have any effect upon what seems to be the correct 
angle? Experiment with several writing surfaces of different 
heights. What is the significance of this for your pupils? 

7. What sort of finger grip do you have in writing? What 
grip have you decided upon as the best? Can you keep the 
grip for ten minutes at a time? Try it. 

8. What is your own opinion about the value of copy books? 

9. Name a number of generic values to which appeal may be 
made in writing. 

10. Do you think the appeal to the specific function of writ- 
ing is really very practical? Substantiate your opinion. 

11. Of what devices can you think to get the pupils to prac- 
tice their writing exercises by themselves with attention and 
interest? Collect these devices from all sources available. 
Are they appeals to generic values or to the specific function 
of the subject? 

12. Write to the Russell Sage Foundation, New York City, 
and ask the secretary to send you a copy of Ayres's Test Card 
for Writing. Dr. Ay res has worked out a score card which 
may be had for five cents. For class purposes it is not so good 
as Thorndike's test because there are not so many steps in it. 



CHAPTER ni 

LANGUAGE 

1. Subject- Matter 

Function of Language. The intrinsic function of 
language, the purpose for which it was created and is 
used is (1) to communicate ideas (2) through words 
(3) with accuracy and effectiveness. 

Language, as it is taught in the elementary school, 
includes spelling, writing, composition, grammar, 
punctuation, and so forth. Of these, each serves a 
secondary purpose in connection with language. All 
assist in the verbal communication of ideas. Grammar 
looks after the relation of words in the sentence, spell- 
ing attends to the order of letters in the word, writing 
takes care of the form of the letters, and punctuation 
marks the breaks in the expression of the idea by means 
of capital, period, comma, or question mark. Language is 
a comprehensive term that includes all of the others and 
serves as a medium through which all of the others may 
be applied practically to accurate and effective speech. 

Language is, of course, only one medium for the 
expression of ideas. It uses words. Painting is another 
medium, a medium which uses color as its material. 
Sculpture uses marble, music uses sound, and carpentry 
uses wood. Language deals only with the communi- 
cation of ideas through words. 

A third part of the purpose of language as stated is 
to convey ideas with accuracy and effectiveness. Be- 
tween these two terms there is a difference which may 
be expressed in this way: Of two expressions equally 



LANGUAGE , 45 

accurate one may be more effective than the other. 
Two writers may each be accurate in expressing the 
same ideas, but one may be much more effective than 
the other. This is clearly illustrated in the sentence, 
Babylon is fallen, fallen. This sentence is grammatically 
correct, but by a slight rearrangement of exactly the 
same words we have a much more effective statement 
in Fallen, fallen is Babylon. And language study is, 
of course, concerned with both accurate expression and 
effective expression. 

Summary. The function of language study is to assist 
pupils to communicate their ideas through words with accuracy 
and effectiveness. 

Standards of Good Language Form. The standard 
by which to judge language form is simple to state. 
A legible letter, essay, or theme, correctly spelled, 
properly punctuated, grammatically accurate, and with 
easy flowing sentences containing as much brightness 
as may be thrown in, is sufficient for all school purposes. 
It is very evident to me that no direct attempt should 
be made for literary form such as great artists have, 
an ideal advocated by some writers on the subject. It 
is sufficient to have the writer of essays and themes 
write with legibility and in conformity with the rules 
of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. A good clear 
letter is all that is necessary. The standard for oral 
language is the same, except that oral language is not 
judged by standards of spelling and writing. 

Form in both written and oral composition is to be 
judged in the grades and in all life by the work done 
outside the language class. The form of the pupils' 
themes, arithmetic exercises, physiology notes, geog- 
raphy and history reports, and personal letters will 



46 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

determine the quality. If these are poor, it makes little 
difference what sort of work is done in special classes. 

Teachers complain of two things. One group of 
teachers says that the composition work of children is 
very slovenly. Some teachers say that children, when 
they pay too much attention to writing, spelling, gram- 
mar, and so forth, become stilted and stiff in what they 
write or talk about. 

In dealing with both these criticisms, a double 
standard will solve many problems; for a teacher should 
allow two standards in written work. I find that most 
people who write anything important need to make at 
least a first draft and a final draft. Sometimes one has 
to make two or three drafts in between the first and the 
last. The first draft is usually very rough. It is rushed 
off in the heat of the idea and is backed up as the ideas 
crowd in upon the writer. It is not the kind of work 
that one would wish to be judged by. The final draft, 
if one is polite and neat in habit, looks very different. 
It is worked out with due consideration for form. 

Now, the first criticism — that pupils' work is 
slovenly — is due to the failure of the teacher to require 
a final draft, legible and readable in form. The teacher 
accepts the first draft and complains of slovenliness 
instead of requiring a readable draft. The second criti- 
cism — that pupils are stilted and formal — arises from 
the failure of teachers to allow the pupils time for mak- 
ing a first draft, or to show them how to do the prelim- 
inary work. Then, of course, when the pupils have to 
write very legibly, and when they have to stop to make 
corrections, all the time fearing that they may make 
some mistake, they will write as stiltedly as a young 
man talks when he visits very precise people in unusual 



LANGUAGE 47 

surroundings and fears with every word he says that 
he will make some bad mistake. If the teacher would 
permit, and show the pupils the use of the two drafts, 
allowing natural work in the first and requiring careful 
work in the second, the content would be spontaneous, 
and the form careful and readable. 

Course of Study. In the grades there is a sharp con- 
trast between the organization of the course of study in 
language and the organization of the course in grammar. 
The latter is arranged rather logically. Usually there 
is a study of the simple parts of the sentence — subject 
and predicate, followed by a treatment of the elemen- 
tary definitions of each part of speech with the neces- 
sary parsing and analysis. This round is usually fol- 
lowed by a more detailed study of the sentence and of 
each part of speech. The organization is " logical " in 
the sense that one step follows the other in systematic 
order, and that each step is to a certain extent depend- 
ent upon a preceding step. Of course the organization 
of grammar for the grades is not so rigidly logical as 
geometry, but in a broad sense it may be called logical. 

At any rate, it is logical when compared with the 
organization of a language textbook for the grades. 
For instance, the following are fifteen consecutive topics 
discussed in a text which I picked up at random : — 

1. Writing a fanciful story. 8. Writing a story. 

2. A study of the paragraph. 9. Writing dates. 

3. A study of spelling in a 10. Writing a story. 

selection. 11. Writing a letter. 

4. Writing an explanatory 12. A study in spelling. 

theme. 13. A study in punctuation. 

5. Studying and memorizing 14. A study in choice of 

a selection. words. 

6. Writing a fanciful story. 15. Addressing envelopes. 

7. Study of errors. 



48 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

A rapid glance at this list shows clearly that there is 
no logical arrangement of the topics. Any other order 
could be as well justified. 

Let me show you the secret of making a course of 
study in language. It is very simple in theory. There 
are just two things to be done. The first is to select all 
the facts that should be taught, and the second is to 
arrange them in the proper order. Whistler, the artist, 
was asked by a gushing admirer the secret of his suc- 
cess in painting. His reply was, "The secret is easy to 
state: Select the right colors and put them on in the 
right place." *' Why,'* exclaimed his admirer, ** I had 
no idea that it was that simple. I shall certainly go 
home and try it immediately." So in language, all one 
has to do is to select the right topics and teach them at 
the right time. 

In selecting all the topics to be studied during eight 
years of language work, we should be guided by the 
frequency of errors. A careful study of the diseases of 
written and oral speech should be made. Such a study 
will reveal certain common grammatical errors, a lack 
of knowledge of such rhetorical forms as paragraphing 
and sentence structure, inability to punctuate, illegible 
writing, and a lack of spontaneity in content. When 
these are all totaled we will have, let us say, 640 facts 
that need to be taught. There are probably fewer, but 
I am not sure of the exact number at the present time; 
and, in any case, opinions will differ as to the number 
that should be taught. In eight years of eight months 
each there are eight times eight times twenty days, or 
1280 days. So we shall have to teach an average of one 
fact every two days, thus giving ample time for drill. 

When we have determined what facts we shall teach. 



LANGUAGE 49 

the next thing is to decide the order in which they are 
to be taken up in school. We want to know what to 
teach to-day, to-morrow, and the next day. 

The old-fashioned text arranged such of these as were 
taught, in a logical manner. This made it all very 
simple. Teach grammar by itself, spelling by itself, 
rhetoric by itself, and follow as logical an order as possi- 
ble. But the present language texts are influenced by 
a new idea, that things are best taught when the pupil 
feels that he needs them. This rather remarkable idea, 
about which we shall talk in the next section, has changed 
the whole order of topics. 

The authors of textbooks in language try to follow the 
order in which they think the facts will be needed by the 
pupils in their efforts at oral and written composition. 
In so doing they claim that they psychologize subject- 
matter; that is, teach it at what they think is the psy- 
chological moment when conditions favor its presenta- 
tion. Grammar is organized logically; language courses 
in the grades have a psychological organization. 

The psychological moment for teaching a language 
fact is the moment when the corresponding error is 
occurring, or when a new process, as letter writing, is 
begun, and the teacher is desirous of getting things 
started correctly so that errors will not occur. At those 
points the pupils will see the relation of the language 
facts to their immediate problems. 

Textbook makers, as you can see, do not know the 
order in which you should take up the topics in your 
classes. For supposedly they taught classes and found 
that the order which they thereafter presented in their 
textbooks was the natural, or psychological, order in 
those classes. But all teachers know that classes differ 



50 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

very widely. The author would find that if he took the 
natural order in which these items occur in his own 
classes from year to year, there would be great differ- 
ences in the order. Every teacher would find a different 
order with similar classes. And classes in different parts 
of the country would take up the topics in quite differ- 
ent orders. So the textbook writer cannot determine 
what order you will use in your classes, because classes 
differ in different localities and from year to year, and 
teachers differ. 

Textbooks. Each teacher, then, in introducing lan- 
guage facts should not feel bound by any order except 
as the needs of the class from day to day seem to recom- 
mend. When a textbook is used, the order of the text 
may easily be changed, so that Lesson 40 will, if neces- 
sary, precede Lesson 24. 

I do not feel competent to give advice concerning the 

details of the course of study. Each language book has 

its own course worked out, and other courses appear in 

practically all texts on the teaching of the subject. A 

small list of references to these, appended at the end of 

this chapter, shows in detail what the opinions of a few 

of these are. But the average teacher has a course 

placed in his hands by school board adoption, in the 

form either of a textbook or of an outline, and uses this 

as his basis. This plan works very well, provided the 

teacher does not adhere slavishly to the order of the 

text or outline, but takes things up in what seems to be a 

natural order. 

Summary. The course of study consists of the commonest 
facts of language which are necessary for reasonably irre- 
proachable written and oral speech. These facts are in general 
taught from day to day, as they seem to be needed most. The 
organization is psychological rather than logical. 



LANGUAGE 51 



2, Motive 



Our problem in language study is that of getting the 
children interested in language forms — grammatical 
facts, rhetorical rules, and information about punctua- 
tion. 

Basis of Interest. Leading to the discussion of meth- 
ods of doing this, there are three facts that throw much 
light upon the subject. These are the following. We 
show interest in conversation (or writing) : first, when 
we are interested in the topic of conversation; second, 
when our audience is interested in it; and third, when 
our hearers do not know as much about it as we do. On 
the other hand, we are not interested in conversation if 
we are not interested in the topic, if our audience seems 
to be bored, or if those to whom we are talking know 
much more about it than we do. 

A few illustrations will make this important point 
clearer. Last summer three friends of mine went to 
Sedalia and while there heard a piece of gossip about a 
citizen of our town. 

A . When they returned, two of them rushed into my 
ofl&ce on some pretext, to tell me the news. I had not 
heard it and proved an appreciative listener. Here 
were all the conditions necessary for a freely flowing 
tongue, and my friends rose to the situation. 

B. After they left, another of my friends happened 
in, and I started to tell him the story; but he was so wor- 
ried about something else that I could not get his atten- 
tion — my audience was not sympathetic; so I dropped 
the subject and began to talk about another matter. 
I did n't see any use in wasting words on him when he 
was not interested. 



52 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

C. In the course of a few minutes another mutual 
friend dropped in, and I proceeded to tell him the inter- 
esting episode. He said, " Yes, that certainly is great; 
Tom just told me about it." So again I dropped my 
story because I do not enjoy telling people things they 
already know. 

D. Now, it so happened that there was one item in 
the story that was not clear to me, and a little later, as I 
chanced to see the third of the friends who had gone to 
Sedalia, I asked him to tell me about it. His answer 
was short and to the point; " You know I haven't any 
use for that fellow, and I did n*t pay any attention to 
the story." So he stopped talking. 

Here in this one illustration, we have all the three 
factors of interest. 

In school language work frequently not only one but 
all of these factors are missing. The first case I shall 
mention is a very common one. The fifth class has just 
had a lesson on the artist Millet, and as a composition 
exercise the class is asked to write out the substance of 
the lesson. It so happens that this lesson is not inter- 
esting to anyone in the class. Here we have a case in 
which a boy writes a theme on a subject in which he is 
not interested, also writes it for an audience (the class, 
or the teacher) that is not interested and that already 
knows as much about it as he does. Out of school the 
story of Millet would not be the subject of the pupils* 
conversation. In the schoolroom the pupils are com- 
pelled to write about it. It is, therefore, no wonder that 
the written work and the oral work in schools is so 
monotonously poor. The children's hearts are not in 
their subjects. The chief reason why normal children 
hate language work is that some one of these factors of 



LANGUAGE 53 

interest is absent. If they are all present, children can 
no more help growing in language than a flower with 
plenty of water, soil, and sunshine can help putting 
forth buds and leaves. 

Summary. In order to secure interest in composition work 
it is necessary that pupils have something interesting to talk 
about, and an interested audience not already possessed of as 
much information on the subject under discussion as is the 
writer or speaker. 

Topics of Interest. The first important consideration 
is to get topics of interest to the pupils. There are many 
of these, but of one sort in particular I wish to speak 
first. 

Most language facts should be taught incidentally in 
the grades, in rural schools. Taught incidentally, the 
interest will depend upon the attractiveness of the other 
subjects and the way in which they are handled. If 
they are interested in history and geography, there is 
one of three factors present. Very often the other two 
can be handled by a little ingenuity on the part of the 
teacher. For instance, if, instead of asking a pupil 
merely to reproduce on paper the story of ** The Man 
Without a Country " after it has been read, much 
better results will come through a slight recasting of the 
assignment to this form perhaps : ** Was the punishment 
of Nolan too hard.? Why.? " or, " Were the officers and 
sailors sorry for him.? What makes you think so? Did 
they think his punishment was too hard.? What makes 
you think so? " Here, by a slight shifting of the phras- 
ing, the teacher can change a dry assignment into a 
living problem. It then fulfills all three conditions of 
interest — a topic of interest to the pupil, one in which 
he thinks his audience will be interested, and one in 



54 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

which, since he makes up his own mind as he goes along, 
he will feel that his audience does not know all the 
facts. As a result he feels that the questions are worth 
discussing. In history and geography this same inge- 
nuity produces slight changes that transform dead 
topics into living questions. It is a quality in teachers 
that is partly native and partly acquired. Newspaper 
men must have it, because they have to take dry facts 
and, by viewing them at a different angle, translate them 
into living news. When the reporter hands in a prosy 
story, the editor by a slight but subtle and skillful touch, 
changes it so that it excites interest. He does it, not by 
telling an untruth about fact, but by giving fact an 
interesting turn. 

For the teacher this is most important, because in 
every subject it makes the difference between prosy 
and living recitations. There is only one way to get it, 
and that is by working for it. Directions are not avail- 
ing. One has to work for the expression — the question 
and the turn that will do the work. 

Other Examples. Besides pleasing and vital problems, 
there are a number of topics that lend interest to lan- 
guage classes. One can, with little children, get much 
interest for some time through letter writing. There is 
a fascination about putting on paper ideas that another 
at a distance can read, which is particularly thrilling to 
young children. If envelopes can be made and addressed 
and a play post office established, further delight and 
realism is added to the process. With older children, 
as well as with little children, a real correspondence may 
be carried on with other rooms and schools in other 
parts of the nation. In this latter case, the pupils write 
about the striking or peculiar things in their locality 



LANGUAGE 55 

to other pupils entirely unacquainted with these things, 
but who, the writers believe, will be interested in their 
descriptions. 

What may be called superlative or unusual experiences 
always possess interest for the narrator and usually for 
the audience. The time at which we were most thor- 
oughly frightened, the worst horse we ever broke, the 
hardest rabbit to trap, are things that we wish to tell 
about and that other people enjoy hearing. These experi- 
ences are found in the life of every boy and girl ; and while 
he would not spend a second to tell about a horse in the 
abstract, he will' grow eloquent in describing how he 
broke a horse, if that is unusual to his auditors, or in 
describing how he broke his hardest horse, if breaking 
horses is a commonplace with his audience. 

Autobiographies are interest-provoking. School chil- 
dren occasionally want to write their own biographies, 
but in many cases they love to write the autobiography 
of a pet dog, a knife, a postage stamp, or a pair of shoes. 
Innumerable topics may be used; and the interest in 
this fanciful undertaking can, if not overdone, be used 
at least once a month during the eight years. 

Another fruitful source of interesting material is the 
fund of stories of strange characters and episodes of 
earlier times that are to be found in any community. 
There are always people who know many of these anec- 
dotes, and certain pupils may be assigned to visit them, 
getting some good stories and writing them up for the 
school. 

Directions for playing a game or the description of a 
trip is of interest, if the game is a new one, or if the trip 
is one that the whole class has not taken. Sometimes 
when a new winter game is wanted, a competition may 



56 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

be held in which each pupil in the class describes some 
new game (if he knows one), all descriptions to be read 
carefully by the class and that one to be selected which 
seems most interesting. If the game is not clearly 
explained, that fact becomes immediately apparent to 
the writer. 

The upholding of one side or the other of a matter 
under class discussion furnishes the pupil with a strong 
motive for effective writing, because he is anxious to 
convince his opponents. The writer is interested; he 
knows that the opposition is interested, but cannot have 
the facts, or it would not be in opposition. He sets to 
work enthusiastically, therefore, to talk on paper. 

Imaginary stories are in many cases very interesting. 
I well remember the wonderful and weird stories that 
my chum and I, as boys of eleven, used to make up for 
fun, spending hour after hour upon the exercise. There 
was no halting in our language or our imagery. Many 
people tell me that when they were in the grades they 
had a desire to write books and stories and would begin 
on them frequently. More children than we suspect 
have this same interest in imaginary stories. That 
interest should be utilized to its full extent. 

These are a few suggestions for teachers, and within 
them the teacher can undoubtedly find material enough 
to keep his pupils supplied for a term of years. 

Summary. Interesting topics may be secured by dressing 
reproductions in new clothes, through letter writing, through 
the suggestion of superlative and other unusual experiences, 
in fanciful autobiographies, in local historical episodes, 
through debates and imaginary stories. 

An Interested but Ignorant Audience. In order to be 
thoroughly interested himself, the writer has to feel 



LANGUAGE 57 

that his audience is interested, and that he can tell the 
group of persons to whom he addresses himself some 
things that they do not already know. Missionaries are 
impelled by exactly this idea. They have something 
that the heathen do not know, and until the audience 
shows interest, it is very hard for the missionary to keep 
on talking and working. When he gets an interested 
audience of learners, he preaches with more than his 
usual enthusiasm. 

An interested audience makes one do his very best. 
Any one can verify this. Think how eloquently you and 
I converse when some one listens with interest to our 
stories, especially about that most interesting topic — 
ourselves. 

To help the child feel that his audience does not know 
more than he does, it is well to have him read his com- 
position to the class so that he will feel that they are his 
audience. If he does not read to the class, he will feel 
that his teacher is his audience, and he is not likely to 
feel that he can tell the teacher much. And the teacher 
sometimes fosters this feeling in inverse proportion to 
the amount he knows. If he does not know much outside 
the book, he tends to want to make the pupils feel that 
they cannot tell him much, because he is afraid that he 
will be found out. If he knows a great deal, he is aware 
of the fact that any normal boy or girl can tell him things 
of which he never dreamed. 

There are some things, such as the principles and the 
fundamental facts of each subject, which all pupils 
expect their teacher to know, and ignorance in these 
matters lowers the teacher in their estimation. But in 
all the rest of knowledge outside the book, boys and girls 
not only are glad to tell the teacher things he does not 



58 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

know, but also admire the teacher all the more because 
they are able to give him information. 

If a boy gets into the habit of thinking about his 
audience, not only will he write and talk better, but he 
will search among the topics he might write and talk 
about to find those that are both interesting to him and 
interesting to his audience. This will help him to keep 
from being a bore when he grows up; for a bore is merely 
one who does not notice whether what he is talking about 
interests his audience or not, and in the absence of his 
observation keeps on talking. 

Sometimes other schools can be made the audience 
for themes as well as for letters; two teachers in neigh- 
boring schools can arrange to have their pupils write 
back and forth on interesting topics of practical value. 
Again, ingenuity on the part of the teachers helps won- 
derfully in setting up what we know to be ideal condi- 
tions for good writing and speaking. 

The audience can be used in a very definite way to 
show a pupil that he needs to correct some points, or to 
give him merited praise. After the pupil has read his 
paper to the class, the teacher can ask the class if they 
got the idea, or, if not, what seems to be the trouble. 
Harsh criticism should not be allowed, nor will it be 
given; for pupils, while frank, are good natured in this 
work. Nor is it a difficult thing to make the plan practi- 
cal; a little care on the part of the teacher will lead them 
to be discriminating critics. 

Summary. Written work should be prepared to be read to 
the class, which serves as an interested and not too learned 
audience. It is not necessary that everything written be read 
to the class. It is only necessary for the writer to feel that 
what he is writing may be read to the class. 



LANGUAGE 59 

Immediate Interest. What we have been saying in 
connection with an audience and a list of interesting 
topics is preparatory to the discussion of interest in lan- 
guage forms, such as punctuation, grammatical defini- 
tions, and so forth. 

In this section, our query is this: How shall we get 
interest in all these forms of language? And the answer, 
in outline, is the same here as elsewhere. That is, there 
are three cases. Either the pupils are interested in 
language forms, or they are not. If they are, nothing 
need be done; but if they are not, then an appeal may 
be made to generic values, or to the specific need. 

The first of these is easily disposed of. We shall 
suppose that they are not interested in such topics as 
punctuation, and therefore we must inquire into methods 
of securing interest. 

Mediate Interest through Generic Incentives. If the 
pupils are not interested in language forms, we may 
attempt to create this interest by an appeal to such 
things as grades, promotion, graduation, the sense of 
duty, avoidance of punishment, and so forth. These 
motives, as we have said in the three earlier chapters 
in the book, are commonly used and clearly under- 
stood by the readers. The less worthy motives in the 
list should never be used; the more worthy should be 
used only when the method to be discussed below fails 
to work. 

Specific Needs. In earlier chapters we said that the 
best method and the hardest to handle in securing 
mediate interest is to inquire into the intrinsic function 
of the item to be studied, and create or find situations 
in line with this. We know that language forms are 
intended to help in the communication of valuable 



60 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

ideas and impressions; and if we wish to create a specific 
need for studying any particular form, the pupil will 
have to see that he has failed to convey his idea, and 
must be made sorry for his failure. 

Now this leads us to familiar ground. If we want 
the pupils to be interested in forms, punctuation, rules, 
and so forth, the best thing to do first is to let them 
write on interesting topics, as first outlined above. Then 
if they become aware of the fact that their audience is 
not understanding what they are talking and writing 
about, they will be ready to remedy their defects and 
cure their errors. This brings us back to the second 
point — the correction of the errors that arise. If 
pupils are interested in writing compositions and 
papers, they will be glad to correct errors, especially 
if they see clearly that the errors keep them from being 
understood. 

Errors we have discussed in each of the three pre- 
ceding chapters. The new point we stress here is that 
we must have the children interested in the topics upon 
which they write, and we have illustrated in part what 
these topics may be. I have no fear of the ultimate 
writing and talking ability of pupils who write and talk 
for an interested audience upon interesting topics, pro- 
vided they have a teacher who has a fine sense for cor- 
rectness, and who uses each practical occasion to teach 
them the correct form in place of their errors, and who 
shows them the easiest way out of their difficulties. 

Summary. Pupils either are interested or are not interested 
in language forms. If they are not, then an appeal may be 
made to generic values, or to specific needs. In the latter case 
the important thing is to have the children interested in what 
they write, and to have their errors corrected as they occur. 



LANGUAGE 61 

Correlation. The other subjects in the course of study 
are related to language in two ways. They provide some 
of the content for language lessons and furnish a place 
in which the language rules may be applied. 

We should certainly be familiar by this time with 
the fact that a teacher's success as an instructor in 
spelling, writing, grammar, and all forms of language 
is to be judged by the natural everyday language of 
the pupils in connection with their life outside the lan- 
guage class. If a teacher tolerates bad language forms 
in any other class, that teacher is not a good language 
teacher. 

In the rural schools, where time is so valuable, the 
great bulk of the language work must be done incident- 
ally in connection with other subjects. This is, of course, 
true of city schools as well, except that in these the 
teacher has much more time for special language classes 
than has the teacher in the country; and, consequently, 
since the rural teacher has less time for special classes, 
the greater part of the teaching of language must be 
incidental. 

We have spoken about the danger of using material 
taken from the other school subjects for work in the spe- 
cial language class, pointing out the likelihood of the 
pupils' feeling that all the rest of the class know the 
material and of there being, therefore, little interest or 
motive for writing. I refer to it here again to emphasize 
the important point made above; that this lack of inter- 
est may be obviated in great measure if, in the reproduc- 
tion, the teacher arranges to have the reproduction solve 
some problem, or answer some interesting question, 
instead of taking the form of a prosy resume. If this 
is done, reproductive work is good; if it is not done, it 



62 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

is an abomination to boys and girls, and detrimental to 
language work. 

Summary. Language is essentially a subject to be taught in 
correlation with other subjects, particularly in the rural school 
where time for special classes is so short. 

3. Methods of Language Study 

In an effective study of language forms, two princi- 
ples are essential: the pupils must be interested, and 
they must have freedom. The first of these we have 
discussed a great deal in the last few pages. The second 
has been partially discussed. 

Freedom. To get the pupils to feel free, three things 
are necessary. In the first place, they must have oppor- 
tunity to write their thoughts just as they occur to 
them without having to be bothered about ink spots or 
legibility. That is, the teacher should allow a first and 
a second draft. This we have already discussed. 

In the second place, the teacher must praise good 
work even more than he censures poor work. One of the 
strangest things in teaching is the scathing criticisms 
visited upon pupils by teachers of English. The trouble 
is that ten-year-old Johnnie is judged by the standard 
set by Shakespeare or Emerson, when as a matter of 
fact he should be judged by that of the average ten- 
year-old boy. If this is done, he will get a mixture of 
praise and blame as he should. Nor should the adverse 
criticisms outweigh the praise, if it is possible to turn 
the balance in favor of the latter. If the boy is praised 
for good work, he will soon become proud of it, and will 
like to do it, and will take criticisms with a good grace. 

A third factor in securing freedom is abstinence on 
the part of the teacher from marking every error. When 



LANGUAGE 63 

a pupil writes in the third grade he has perhaps twenty- 
errors; in the eighth grade he has three errors. Now in 
the eighth grade he is better able to stand up under 
twenty corrections than he was in the third grade. In- 
stead of burying a third-grade child under a mass of 
corrections, the teacher will do well to mark only those 
errors which the child is able to correct by rules learned 
in class. If one goes slowly, has patience, and is not too 
greatly concerned at temporarily passing over errors, he 
will win out in the end through careful attention directed 
to errors one at a time. In addition, this temperateness 
in correcting errors will incline the teacher to avoid too 
great harshness and will thereby stimulate freedom and 
spontaneity. 

Organization. In addition to troubles in spelling, 
writing, and grammar, pupils usually have trouble in 
organizing what they say. In the early grades they run 
along without any very definite unity or coherence in 
the body of their remarks. But in the sixth grade they 
begin to get an idea of organization, and at that time 
the teacher can profitably show the class how to make 
outlines. These, as a general rule, should not be the same 
for the whole class. The exceptions could be in drill 
and demonstration lessons where the teacher shows the 
whole class how to do it. At other times each pupil 
should make out his outline for himself so that he can 
avoid the feeling that what he does is being done in the 
same way by everybody else and is, therefore, not much 
worth while. 

There needs to be considerable assistance in organiza- 
tion, because the organization needed in telling a story 
is different from that needed in either description or 
exposition. But it is not wise to spend much time in 



64 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the grades in dealing with the technique of narration, 
description, or exposition. These subjects are complex 
and far beyond the comprehension of grade-school 
pupils. If, as was said above, we graduate pupils who 
write a correct letter or paper, we should be amply- 
satisfied, even if the style is prosaic and matter-of-fact. 
These subtleties either are natural to the grade pupils 
or are not acquired by them. A plain, clear, and nicely 
worded composition is enough for any teacher of grade 
children to expect. 

Oral Errors. Oral errors should be corrected if they 
have been noted before. If they are left till the pupil 
has concluded his answer, he will have forgotten the 
circumstances of the error. If they are corrected as soon 
as they occur, the pupil often forgets what he is about 
to say, and in many cases becomes much embarrassed. 
These two difficulties are at opposite extremes and have 
to be reconciled. To do so, it is well at the beginning to 
make no corrections till the sentence is finished. Then, 
as the correction is made from time to time, the pupil 
comes to have a tender conscience in connection with it; 
and after a while a look from the teacher, or a question, 
calls his attention to the error without embarrassing 
him; he makes the correction immediately and goes on. 
So, until pupils have become familiar with the error 
and its corrected form, corrections should not be made 
till they have finished the answer. 

Written Errors. Written errors should be corrected, 
as directed above, when they have been already noted 
for some time in class. In that case the error should 
be marked by some simple scheme, probably a mark at 
the edge of the paper on the line in which the error 
occurs. Some writers say that in the early grades the 



LANGUAGE 65 

exact error should be marked and the correct form 
written just above. Nevertheless, if only those errors 
that have been discussed in class are noted, it is neces- 
sary merely to indicate that something is wrong. The 
pupils may forget temporarily; but they should be held 
responsible for remembering and should not be given 
this assistance. An exception to this would arise when 
for any reason the teacher marks errors not previously 
studied, in the written work of young children. 

Punctuation. In general it is a mistake to require 
much use of the comma. There are a few cases in which 
the comma is arbitrarily used, and these may be learned; 
but beyond that it is too subtle a work and requires too 
much refinement in thinking to be expected of grade 
children. The same holds true in general of the semi- 
colon. If a pupil can capitalize, use periods and question 
marks, and attend to special cases of the comma, the 
teacher should be completely satisfied. More cannot 
be expected, and insistence upon more is wasteful 
because it destroys pleasure in work by requiring some- 
thing to be done that the pupil cannot do. 

The Use of the Dictionary. The trouble with having 
your pupils use a dictionary is that the word they are 
looking up is usually defined in words that are just as 
unfamiliar and as difficult to understand. 

For instance, in Longfellow's *' The Old Clock on the 

Stairs," these words occur: — 

The horologe of Eternity 
Sayeth this incessantly, — 
"Forever — never! " 

I have just looked up the meaning of the word incessantly 
in a small dictionary commonly used in schools and 
find it to be, in an incessant manner^ with constant repeti- 



66 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

tion. But the meanings are just as unfamiliar to the 
average pupil as the original word. It is unfortunate 
that we do not have a dictionary for the grades which, 
instead of being a skeletonized pocket edition of a great 
dictionary and much harder, therefore, to read than 
the larger one, would give the meanings of words in 
simple, if not quite so exact, language. At present, with 
dictionaries as they are, it is hardly worth while to try 
to do much with them before the sixth grade. However, 
this is only an opinion, and opinions differ. 

Paragraph. The paragraph is a rather difficult thing 
for little people to understand. The reason for this is 
that paragraphing requires ability to get perspective 
among thoughts. Each paragraph has a central idea, — 
or theme, topic, or subject, — but contains in addition 
some subordinate ideas and sentences. To very young 
children the idea that strikes them is the important one. 
For instance, take this paragraph : — 

He too is dead — he who, never having been born, we had 
hoped never would die; not that he did, hke Rob — *' exactly 
die"; he was slain. He was fourteen and getting deaf and 
blind, and a big bully of a retriever fell upon him on Sunday 
morning when the bells were ringing. Dick, who always fought 
at any odds, gave battle; a Sabbatarian cab turned the corner, 
the big dog fled, and Dick was run over — there in his own 
street, as all his many friends were going to church. His back 
was broken, and he died on Monday night with all his friends 
about him. 

Now evidently the central idea here is the method by 
which Dick met his death. This is what an adult reader 
might say. But if this were given to fourth-grade boys 
and girls, and they were asked what it is all about, the 
answer would depend upon the content of the pupil's 
mind and not upon the content of the paragraph. To 



LANGUAGE 67 

one boy the big idea there — that is, the striking idea 
— might be Diclc gave battle; to another, Dich was run 
over, and to a third, a big bully of a retriever fell upon 
him one Sunday morning. 

However, in the sixth grade the children are getting 
maturity and paragraph sense. If the matter is not 
taken up till then, they can become quite proficient in 
picking out the big thoughts in paragraphs in geog- 
raphy, history, and other school subjects. Earlier than 
this it is, on the whole, a waste of time. With little chil- 
dren, all they write is one paragraph. They can learn 
the conventional way of beginning a paragraph, indent- 
ing the first line, but when they have done this they 
write to the end of what they have to say. They have 
no idea at what points to divide what they have to say 
into paragraphs; and if the teacher insists upon para- 
graphing, they either make each sentence a paragraph, 
or make the paragraph by guess. 

From the sixth grade on, the paragraph idea may be 
taught in the reading material of other subjects. The 
class may be asked to name the big thoughts in the 
lesson or in a paragraph. To this the most serious 
handicap is the very poor paragraph structure of many 
school textbooks out of which the children have to 
study. To meet this, the teacher has no way except to 
give more assistance at those particular points. 

A second way to teach the paragraph idea is to have 
the pupils take one idea and write a paragraph upon it. 
Then, in correction, the paragraph test should be made. 
That is, the pupils should go over the paragraph so 
written to see if every sentence bears on the central 
idea. In the seventh and eighth grades a great deal of 
interest grows from this exercise. 



68 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Drill on Language Forms. From all the foregoing it 
is evident that drill plays a very important part in 
language work. In many cases the problem is to get the 
pupils to supplant bad habits by good; and in others it is 
to set up new good habits. 

The first point necessary is to have a clear initial 
impression; the second is to have attentive repetition; 
and the third is to continue this repetition until the 
habit becomes automatic and quite familiar. Let us 
first take up the matter of a clear initial impression. 

When Willie Smith, who as yet does not study gram- 
mar, says, " He don't know," one way to handle the 
case is to say, at once " Willie, you must say. He doesn't 
know,'' and Willie may repeat and say, " He does n't 
know." But in addition it is wise to save this expression 
for a class recitation and spend time enough on the sub- 
ject to make it clear. Several sentences may be put 
upon the board thus : — 

I don't know, You don't know. 

He does n't know. They don't know. 

Now, if the class knows nothing about grammar, the 
teacher cannot talk about third person singular, agree- 
ment, and so forth. But he can have the pupils repeat 
these short sentences, noting that with he, does is al- 
ways used. This is an individual fact to be remembered^ 
It may be amplified by the following inductive process : — 

The boy does not go. The man does not want it. The girl 
does not like to go. Boys do not go. The men do not want it. 
The girls do not like to go. 

From these sentences the pupils may be led to get the 
feeling that where " it is just one," does is used, but 
where " it is more than one " do is used. This should be 



LANGUAGE 69 

followed by the rapid use in class of a number of illus- 
trations containing do and does, some of which should 
be given by the teacher, but the larger number by the 
pupils. This is important. 

This very brief outline is suggestive merely. It illus- 
trates what is meant by making the initial impression 
clear. Both time and patience are necessary in order to 
have the pupils see just what is expected of them. 

4. Class Mechanics 

The mechanics of handling language work in class 
has been discussed incidentally at several places in 
this chapter, and at this point it is necessary only to 
amplify. 

Oral Language. In incidental language work where 
children recite in classes in other subjects, or where 
they recite in the special language class, two points 
should be borne in mind. First, every opportunity 
should be given to allow pupils to make long answers. 
This does not mean that pupils should not talk to the 
point. It does mean that care should be taken to ask 
questions that require extensive answers. What is known 
as topical questions should be given. Teachers some- 
times from nervousness, and sometimes from I know 
not what, constantly ask little, choppy questions, using 
fifty, when probably ten would be more efficient. 
Choppy questions require only abbreviated answers. 
Second, corrections of points already studied should not 
be made until the pupil has completed what he has to 
say, except where the error is of sufficient familiarity to 
be called to his attention, and corrected without dis- 
tracting his mind from what he is trying to say. 

Written Language Work. In written work corrections 



70 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

should be made on the margin, preferably, under condi- 
tions just mentioned. After the papers have been handed 
back to the pupils for correction, care must be taken by 
the teacher to see that the corrections are made by the 
pupils. This is not a difficult task in rural schools 
because the classes are usually small and not much 
time is needed to cover all the papers twice. Members 
of the class may write the composition on the board 
before the class period so that they will all be ready to 
study when the class begins. This is possible only where 
there is plenty of board space. 

Many of the pupils* compositions, both in special 
language classes and in other subjects, should be read 
to the class. Thus each pupil feels that he is writing for 
the class and becomes conscious of an audience. This, 
however, will give no test for his writing, punctuation, 
or spelling, and so the blackboard writing is of use in 
showing his skill in spelling and punctuation. 

Alternation. If grammar is taught in the eighth 
grade only, language may alternate in the sixth and 
seventh grades, and in the fourth and fifth grades. 
Below the fourth grade, if there is any class that is 
called a language class, the differences in the develop- 
ment of the pupils are so marked that alternation is not 
advisable. If grammar is taught in the seventh and 
eighth grades, it is possible to alternate in those grades. 
The fifth and sixth may alternate, and possibly the 
third and fourth. But the best plan for alternation is 
the one first mentioned — teaching grammar only in the 
eighth grade and grouping grades four and five, and 
grades six and seven, for the purpose of alternating in 
language. 



LANGUAGE 71 



REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Arnold. Waymarksfor Teachers y^^T^. 123-38, 143-51. (Written 
work, pictures, and stories.) 

Black. Primary Methods, pp. 125-43. (Primary language 
work.) 

Charters. Methods of T caching , pp. 63-72. (Function of lan- 
guage forms.) 

Chubb. The Teaching of English^ pp. 106-16. (General.) 

CooLEY. Language Teaching in the Grades, pp. 5-48. (Lan- 
guage and literature.) 

McMuRRY. Special Method in Language, pp. 103-39. (Illus- 
trative lessons.) 

RocHELEAu. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, pp. 249-96. 
(General.) 

Sanders. Management and Methods, pp. 196-205. (Interest- 
ing topics for Language work.) 



CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Give five examples to show that by a slight rearrange- 
ment in the order of words, a grammatically accurate sentence 
may be made more effective. 

2. You, as a student, undoubtedly use a first draft in writ- 
ing anything important. Is it neat,? Should any standard at 
all be set for neatness for yourself .^^ For pupils? 

3. Examine four language textbooks and compare the order 
in which they take up topics. 

4. What are the arguments in favor of your using a text- 
book in language work? 

5. What are the weaknesses connected with the use of a lan- 
guage textbook? 

6. Suppose you ask a class of country pupils to write a 
"composition about a cow," and find that the pupils have 
written about twenty or twenty -five words. Why did n't 
they write more? Give five different topics on this same sub- 
ject that would produce more interest and result in better 
compositions. 

7. What are the weaknesses in using reproduction work as a 
basis for compositions? How can these weaknesses be 
obviated? 

8. Give instances showing the loss of interest in a subject 
(1) because the audience did not prove to be sympathetic. 



72 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

and (2) because it turned out that the audience knew as 
much about the subject as did the speaker. 

9. Name the most interesting things that you think you 
could write about. 

10. Is a teacher justified in showing a seeming interest in 
everything the pupils say, when in reality she is not inter- 
ested? Why? 

11. Suppose you were going to fit language instruction to 
the errors of the class. What would be five topics you would 
take up with the class you are now in? 

12. Should a teacher who does not use grammatical English 
be given a certificate to teach? Why? 

13. If such a rule were made and enforced, who among your 
friends would be eligible on that point? 

14. Do you think a teacher could get along without a 
special language class in a rural school where time is impor- 
tant, if he paid attention to the language of the pupils and 
corrected it in the other subjects? Why? 

15. How frequently do you use the colon in your own 
writing? The semicolon? 

16. How old were you before you were able to handle the 
dictionary with any practical success? Is the date set in the 
text too late? 



CHAPTER IV 

GRAMMAR 

1. Subject- Matter 

Function of Grammar. The difference between the 
object of teaching language and that of teaching gram- 
mar is this: in language we teach correct grammatical 
forms, and in grammar we explain why they are correct. 

Some people become quite heated when they discuss 
the function of grammar, because there are such radical 
differences of opinion upon the subject. One group of 
people says that the function of grammar is to enable 
one to speak correctly; to train boys who say *' They 
ain't " to say " They are not," and to explain why the 
latter is correct. But another group asserts that gram- 
mar is studied to explain the structure of English. 
Grammar, say these advocates, is a science that helps 
us to understand the sentence, to know why we speak as 
we do; but as a science it is not concerned with the art 
of speech. For a science and an art differ in this, that a 
science helps us to understand, but an art is concerned 
with doing. The science of human speech explains why 
we speak as we do; the art of human speech, speaks. 

These two groups of people quarrel constantly. The 
scholarly grammarian who likes to study grammar holds 
that it is a science and is not concerned with making 
people speak correctly. Many teachers hold the same 
view and make no attempt to apply the rules of gram- 
mar to the speech of the children. 

The Other group holds that a university graduate or a 
high-school graduate may be justified in studying gram- 



74 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

mar merely as a science of speech, because every man 
has a right to study anything he likes. But the mem- 
bers of this group say also that the only excuse for 
teaching grammar, at least in the elementary school, 
is the improvement of incorrect speech. These oppo- 
nents claim that there are a great many things of more 
importance for the boy and the girl in the grades than a 
little knowledge about such a very abstruse and diffi- 
cult subject as grammar, unless it is to be used in mak- 
ing pupils use correct English. 

I belong to this second group. For I see little use for 
the study of grammar in the grades except as an aid in 
correcting speech. But to make the whole position 
clear let us approach it from another angle. 

As you remember, the function of spelling was to 
arrange letters in words. The function of grammar is 
to explain the relation of words in a sentence. With the 
order of letters in words, grammar is not concerned; it 
investigates the relations of words in sentences. These 
relations are given such names as subject and predicate, 
noun, verb, phrase, etc. 

If grammar studies the relations of words in sen- 
tences, some boy with a dislike for the subject may ask 
the use of knowing about the relation of words in sen- 
tences. Why study about nouns, pronouns, predicates, 
and verbs .^^ 

Two answers are usually given. One of these says, If 
you use incorrect forms, educated people will make fun 
of you. This ridicule is not always expressed by a smile 
or a laugh or by a spoken word, but it is registered 
inside. The person who knows better and hears a mistake 
in grammar notices it even if he does not make any sign. 
He says to himself, " This person is a rather crude or 



GRAMMAR 75 

careless individual." Many teachers fail to get high 
positions because they make grammatical mistakes. 
Sometimes a teacher makes more mistakes than his 
pupils, and then the pupils make fun of him and he loses 
his influence. 

Since, however, ninety-five per cent of all children 
and teachers come from homes or communities where 
incorrect English is used, nearly every one has before 
him a long, hard task to overcome habits set up in early 
life before he studied language and grammar in school. 
In fact, it is not an uncommon experience to hear uni- 
versity professors make mistakes in grammar, not 
because they do not know better, not because they do 
not try hard to speak correct^, but because when they 
were little boys they lived with people who spoke 
ungrammatically and from whom they learned wrong 
forms. Such people are exposed to the ridicule of those 
who notice the error, and the only way in which they 
can cure themselves is by eternal vigilance and a study 
of English grammar. 

The second reason for studying grammar is that we 
may know how to select the correct forms. For instance, 
Willie Roberts is in the habit of saying " Him and me is 
going." Teacher corrects Willie over and over, in the 
class, telling him that he should say "He and I are 
going." But Willie is corrected so often that after a 
while he reaches a condition in which he is unable to 
remember which of these expressions is right. Here, 
say the practical people, is where grammar helps. If 
the boy learns the case forms of the pronouns and the 
rule for the agreement of subject and predicate in num- 
ber, he need not depend upon a hazy memory for a cor- 
rect form, but can work it out for himself. If he knows 



76 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

that the nominative case for him and me is he and /» it 
will then be easier to remember which is correct. Herein 
is the essential reason, it seems to me, for the study of 
grammar in the grades. It shows the speaker how to 
select correct forms for himself. 

In baseball the best managers tell their players to 
obey the rules of the game on every occasion. The 
players may feel that they can break the rules of the 
game once in a while and gain by it — a player may run 
from first to third, cutting out second, and " get away 
with it " when the umpire's back is turned. But the 
manager will not allow it because he knows that, in the 
long run, if one does not follow the rules, the game will 
punish him. 

Just so in grammar. I may say " They ain't," " It 's 
me," " Him and I," and so forth all the time and have 
people understand me; but I am breaking the rules of 
correct speech in the talking game, and every once in a 
while I am sure to be misunderstood. My percentage 
of effectiveness will not be so high as it would be if I 
followed the rules. My ideas will suffer by virtue of my 
carelessness. 

Summary. The function of grammar is to assist in the accu- 
rate conveyance of ideas to others by giving due regard to 
the relations of words in the sentence. We use correct forms in 
grammar so that we may be understood and so that educated 
people cannot belittle our training. While grammar may be 
studied for itself alone in higher institutions, its only justifi- 
cation in the elementary school curriculum is as a first aid to 
injured speech and broken grammatical rules. 

Standards. Two standards are set up by the two 
opposing sides in the debate over the teaching of gram- 
mar. One group says that a student has a good hold of 
grammar if he can analyze and parse with ability and 



GRAMMAR 77 

accuracy. The other group says that it does n't matter 
how well a person may be able to analyze and parse, he 
has little hold upon grammar if he does not speak gram- 
matically. One party sets up a scientific standard, the 
other an artistic standard. 

Which of these two is right, and under what condi- 
tions one or the other may be right, matters little to the 
grade teacher. For him there is only one standard that 
should satisfy. It does n't matter how well his pupils 
can analyze and parse, if they use ungrammatical lan- 
guage. Unless they speak accurately, their knowledge 
of grammar is just so much chaff. 

This is a difficult standard to attain for three reasons. 
First in importance, the pupils have heard ungram- 
matical language all their lives and have had habits 
firmly fixed at home and among neighbors. Second, the 
teacher has the pupils not more than six hours out of the 
twenty-four, and during that time the average boy or 
girl does no more talking than he does in ten minutes 
outside school. So the teacher has very little oppor- 
tunity to help him by reiteration upon the same errors 
over and over again, day by day, precept upon precept, 
and line upon line. In the third place, in many communi- 
ties, if pupils should use correct forms they would be 
laughed at by the neighbors as " smart alecks " and 
would be dubbed '* stuck-ups." To bashful country boys 
and girls this is a penalty so biting that it takes great 
confidence in a teacher to overcome the handicap. 

Summary. There are two possible standards for judging the 
hold a pupil has upon grammar. One is skill in parsing and 
anab'zing; the other is the ability to speak grammatically out- 
side the grammar class. The latter is the practical working 
standard by which a teacher may justly judge the merit of 
his ability as a teacher. 



78 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Structure. We have stated the specific function of 
grammar as that of assisting in the communication of 
valuable ideas by attending to the relation of words in 
the sentence. Such being its function, it is interesting 
to note how the sentence is organized to convey ideas 
with increasing accuracy. There are eight parts of 
speech, and these are arranged around a subject and 
predicate. By these few elements all spoken thought is 
expressed. No matter what one wishes to say, he must 
use some of the eight parts of speech. 

It is a remarkable fact, when one thinks of it, that 
little children express a whole sentence in one word. 
Two-year-old Mary says, " Milk," and means, " Give 
me some milk quickly"; or she says, " Hot," and means, 
" This stove is hot; so I had better be careful." All her 
sentences are single words, and yet they express ideas. 

Grammarians tell us that, in all probability, when 
people began to use language, hundreds of thousands of 
years ago, they used single expressions for whole sen- 
tences, just as children do now. They did not employ 
subject and predicate, noun, verb, and adverb. 

We have that same sort of sentence now in the inter- 
jection. When I hit my finger with a hammer, instead of 
using a long and accurate sentence, saying, " I have hit 
my finger with the hammer. It hurts, and I am very 
angry," I say " Ouch! " This expresses the idea. 

The important point is that this single expression, 
which primitive men used, cannot be very accurate. 
So the sentence grew, just as it does with children. After 
the baby says " Hot " f or a while, she may say ** Stove 
hot," or " Milk hot," which is more accurate than is 
** hot " alone. 

As time went on, each generation tried to be more 



GRAMMAR 79 

accurate, and so new elements were added to the sen- 
tence to make greater accuracy. Of these cases let me 
give a few examples. For instance, the adjective lends 
accuracy. I might say, " Buy me a hammer." But if I 
may use adjectives, I can say " Buy me a very small 
tack hammer." This gives greater accuracy by making 
the noun more definite. The tenses make the verb more 
definite. If we had only one tense form we could not tell 
whether our friend has been married, was married, is 
married, is being married, will be married, or will have 
been married sometime. Little children are not able to 
express these fine shades of meaning until they have 
learned the tense form. 

Many grammarians have made a classification of all 
the parts of speech and all the forms that each part of 
speech undergoes in expressing exact shades of meaning. 
They differ among themselves in little details, but, in 
the main, they agree on the chief modifications. 

The following is a classification of the noun, which 
may be accepted for purposes of illustration : — 

Classes. 
Common. 
Proper. 

Properties 
Gender 

Masculine. 

Feminine. 

Common. 

Neuter. 
Number. 

Singular. 

Plural. 
Case. 

Nominative. 

Objective. 

Possessive. 



80 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

The important fact to remember is that each of these 
items helps to make the communication of ideas more 
accurate. Take, for instance, the two classes of noun. 
Evidently it is sometimes of advantage to be able to 
say " John is going to the city,'* rather than to say " A 
man is going to the city." The proper name makes for 
greater exactness by designating that particular mem- 
ber of the group who is meant. 

In like manner sex is a very important consideration 
in all life. It is fundamental, and people have to take 
it into constant consideration. It is, therefore, in the 
interests of accuracy to have separate forms for each 
sex. It is more accurate to say, *' Men are hearty eaters'* 
than to say " Some people are hearty eaters." Boy and 
girl are more definite than children. These examples are 
to illustrate how every form and part of speech has a 
different work to perform in helping people to be more 
accurate in what they have to say. And if one takes all 
the forms of all the parts of speech, he can show that the 
same principles hold true everywhere in grammar. 

Summary. The sentence has been developed in the history 
of mankind and is developed in the case of every child from a 
single word, which expresses an idea inaccurately, to the 
very complicated, but more exact form in which adults to-day 
use it. Every grammatical form which has thus been evolved 
has a definite work to perform in producing this result. 

Parsing and Analysis. Parsing and analysis are not 
intricate and mysterious processes. Their business is to 
state the relations that exist between words in the sen- 
tence. Analysis takes the sentence and dissects it, or 
breaks it up, into its component parts. For instance, in 
the sentence Tlie King of Spain may come to America 
in June, analysis proceeds to state subject, predicate, 
modifiers, etc., as follows: — 



GRAMMAR 81 

Kind of sentence — simple, declarative. 

Subject — King. 

Modifiers— (1) the, (2) of Spain. 

Predicate — may come. 

Modifiers — (1) to America, (2) in June. 

Here the sentence is broken up into its smaller 
groups, and the relationship of each is shown. These 
groups are sometimes phrases, as of Spaiuy in June, etc. 
They may be clauses, as in complex and compound sen- 
tences; and, of course, they may be single words, as 
King above. 

Parsing simply carries this process one step further. 
In an analysis we make a rough dissection, while in 
parsing we make a minute dissection showing the exact 
relationship of each word in the sentence. For instance, 
in parsing the sentence given above, we would carry it 
through in a thorough-going manner by beginning with 
The and taking up each word as we go along. 

For the one who is to parse every word, analysis is 
just the first step in which the words are roughly sorted 
into groups ready and waiting to be sorted more care- 
fully in the parsing process. 

Diagramming. In analysis and parsing, people some- 
times use devices when the matter is to be put upon 
paper. When I was taught analysis, I used the form 
that I have just given above. Other people use other 
devices, and a great many have used and are using 
diagrams. 

Strong objections are urged against diagramming; 
but it is a handy device when used in moderation. It 
saves time. I shall give no advice upon the kind of 
diagram to use, except to say, first, that it should be as 
simple as possible, and second, that it should not be used 



82 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

exclusively. For the ideal to which we should strive to 

attain is to be able to analyze mentally as we read along. 

In so far as analysis is carried on, it may be diagrammed, 

or given orally, and sometimes it should be written out 

after a form similar to the one given in connection with 

the sentence above. Care should be taken to see that no 

pupil uses the diagram mechanically or juggles with the 

form without understanding the process. 

Summary. Parsing is the process by which we state the 
relation between words in the sentence. Analysis is the first 
step in parsing, in which the sentence is broken up into groups 
of words preparatory to parsing. Diagramming is a devi.ce for 
saving time in analyzing and should be used, but with reason- 
ableness and care. 

Course of Study. There are two important questions 
to consider in dealing with the course of study in gram- 
mar: When should grammar be taught? and What 
should be taught? 

The first question to be settled is what we mean by 
grammar as distinguished from language. The answer is 
as follows: We teach grammar when we explain why 
we use certain forms in language. Thus, since it is pos- 
sible to use correct forms without explaining why they 
are correct, it is possible to teach language without 
grammar. When the teacher says to a pupil ** Do not 
say He airity but He is not,'' he is teaching language. 
When he makes the pupil understand that he must say 
He is noU because the verb agrees with its subject in 
person, he is teaching grammar. 

Time to Begin. Our first question is, therefore, In 
what grade shall the teacher begin to teach the terms of 
grammar so that the pupils can explain why certain 
forms are correct and certain other forms are incorrect? 
Opinions and practices differ. Some writers advocate 



GRAMMAR 83 

the beginning of grammar in the fifth grade. Most 
writers think that the seventh grade is best. I once had a 
teacher who was a particularly strong grammar teacher. 
Before 1906 she had taught grammar for several years 
to pupils who had begun it, some in the fifth grade, 
others in the seventh grade. In 1906 we decided to teach 
grammar only in the eighth grade. Accordingly the 
course of study was so arranged that when the pupils 
reached her in the eighth grade they had had no gram- 
mar. She taught them all their grammar in one year. 
The significant fact about the experiment is this: that 
after trying the plan out with two classes, she told me 
that she secured better results, that her pupils who had 
studied grammar for only one year knew more grammar 
when they left the eighth grade than any class that had 
begun the study of grammar in the seventh or in the 
fifth grade. 

Here are only two classes and the opinion of one 
teacher, but this method is established on a sound theo- 
retical basis. It is possible for a subject to be started 
before pupils are old enough to understand it; and if it is 
started then, they never get it straightened out in their 
minds. It is always hazy and misty. But, if it is left 
until the pupils can understand it, they will learn it 
easily and will get a clear grasp of it. 

It is undoubtedly better to begin grammar in the 
seventh grade than earlier. If, in the language books, 
lessons in grammar are given for the grades lower than 
the seventh, they should be omitted. Attention to them 
before the seventh grade is not only a waste of time, 
but a positive damage to pupils; and in every case the 
grammatical items should be blue-penciled and omitted. 
There is only one reason for teaching grammar in the 



84 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

seventh grade instead of leaving it till the eighth, and 
that arises when there is a danger of pupils not remain- 
ing in school through the eighth grade. But in the coun- 
try more and more stress is being brought to bear upon 
boys and girls to have them graduate from the eighth 
grade. Because of this, and in view of the advantages 
of being able to defer such a technical subject as gram- 
mar to as late a date as possible, teachers should, if they 
can, leave the study of all grammar till the last year of 
the grades. 

Prior to the seventh grade, pupils can very easily pick 
up incidentally the names of some of the simple parts of 
speech. If it is done incidentally and not forced on the 
pupils, it is probably a good thing for them to be able 
to recognize a noun and some of the other parts of speech 
by name. But if any effort is made to make the pupil 
learn this, the acquisition will be unnatural, artificial, 
and harmful. 

Summary. Formal grammar should be taught preferably in 
the eighth grade only, and in no case below the seventh grade. 

What should be taught? Opinions differ as to the 
amount of grammar to teach in the grades. One well- 
known writer says it would be wiser to let grammar shift 
for itself and to throw the whole emphasis upon lan- 
guage work. Many textbooks in grammar contain a 
relatively complete statement of grammatical facts, 
setting up as their ideal that the children should be able 
to analyze any sentence and parse any word in it. 

The amount of grammar facts to be studied is deter- 
mined in the case of most teachers by what is in the 
text they happen to use. If the text has just a few facts, 
just a few facts are taught; if the text is full, the full list 
is taught. Teachers do not omit much because they 



GRAMMAR 85 

think that what goes after depends upon the previous 
lessons, and anything missed keeps the pupil from under- 
standing what follows. They add little not found in the 
text, because there are no drill exercises for the added 
items. 

A teacher has to depend upon the text to a consid- 
erable degree, but to not nearly so great an extent as 
the foregoing arguments would make us think. It is 
very practicable to omit many parts of the text in 
grammars that have too many minor facts in them. 

The first thing to do in deciding what to teach is to 
find out what are the common errors made by the people 
in the community where you teach. Then, the second 
thing to do is to pick out those parts of grammar that 
will explain how to correct these errors. A very simple 
process is this, as one can readily see. 

Let us try to see how this works in a few cases. Sup- 
pose the common errors are such as They ain't and I 
seen him. Here we have some facts that should be taught. 
The pupils, to correct They ain't and know why the 
corrected form is correct, would need to know subject, 
predicate, and person and number in verbs at least. 
To correct / seen him, they would have to know the 
principal parts of verbs and the tense forms. Here we 
have person, number, tenses, and principal parts of 
verbs, and the agreement of subject and predicate as 
important things in grammar. 

If the teacher makes a careful canvass of all the com- 
mon errors, he will find that a pupil must know all the 
parts of speech, — noun, pronoun, verb, etc., — and 
must know the main facts concerning the sentence; but 
there are only a few additional facts, such as parts and 
conjugations of verbs, comparison of adjectives, and 



86 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

case endings of pronouns that are essential. All told, 
there are not very many facts that need to be known. 

Those few facts, however, need to be well known. The 
case endings of pronouns, since they determine the use 
of he and hirriy she and her, I and me, need to be very 
well known — so well known in fact that children will 
not forget them. So also the parts of verbs, the learning 
of which will obviate I seen and I have saw, need a great 
deal of drill, repetition, and reference. Such subjects as 
the nature of abstract nouns and the adverbial objective 
complement may very well be omitted, since, while 
interesting as information, and not without value in 
training the memory, they are not so useful as are some 
other facts in securing a command of good English. 

The foregoing, I am sure, is the only basis upon which 
practical grammar work can be done in the common 
schools. 

In such a plan, parsing and analysis would have a place. 
As a basis for understanding the especially important 
facts of which we have just spoken, the pupil needs to 
know the simple common facts of grammar. And he 
should be able to analyze easy sentences and parse 
ordinary, easy words. It is both absurd and criminal 
to expect that an eighth-grade pupil should be able to 
take any sentence anywhere and, after analyzing it, 
parse its constituent words. Some teachers whose hobby 
is grammar, expect this, but wise teachers do not. No 
teacher can train average pupils in the eighth grade to 
do this. If the pupil can parse the words in those simple 
relations in which he makes mistakes, and ninety-five 
per cent of his errors are of a simple sort, he has 
acquired all the knowledge of grammar he needs and all 
the knowledge that should be expected of him. 



GRAMMAR 87 

Summary. The course of study in grammar should be com- 
posed only of the very simplest facts, and particular attention 
should be paid to those parts of the grammar that explain how- 
to correct common errors and give the reasons for the correct 
forms. 

2, Motive for Study 

Immediate Interest. The same classes of motives that 
work in spelling and penmanship will work likewise in 
grammar. Children may be interested in grammar just 
because they like it for its own sake as a subject to 
study. That is, they may have immediate interest in 
grammar. Or they may not like it, and any interest 
that they have must be mediate. In getting interest 
there may be an appeal to generic values, such as grades, 
approbation, and so forth, or to specific needs for the 
subject, depending upon its function. These possibilities 
we shall take up one after the other. 

The most striking fact about grammar is that almost 
every child dislikes it, and this is true particularly of the 
boys. It is one of the " hard " subjects for children; 
and only by the greatest effort can they be made to study 
it through an appeal to grades, force, or detention. 

Why do we find such a deep-seated and far-reaching 
dislike to the subject .^^ The answer is easy. It is not 
because grammar is really uninteresting, but because the 
book and the teacher take grade children into the sub- 
ject too far. 

Let me find an illustration to show how taking a per- 
son into a subject too far kills interest. A little boy of 
fourteen was very fond of learning about botany. He 
read all the stories about flowers and plants that he could 
find in the "Youth's Companion" and used to ask his 
friends for more. But when he studied botany in the 
high school, all his interest disappeared because they 



88 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

gave too many Latin names and talked too much about 
cells, cytology, and other little things for which he 
could see no use. A young friend of mine was very fond 
of dabbling with watercolors till he had to take paint- 
ing in school under a teacher who taught him so much 
about perspective and masses and details that he could 
not have any fun in painting. 

Grammar would be as well liked as any other subject 
if the pupils were not rushed into hard examples and 
artificial distinctions. Keep the boy in the simple forms 
and give him simple analysis and parsing, and he will 
not dislike the subject so much as he does now. Liking 
at the expense of too great simplicity is not to be advised; 
grammar should not be made too easy, because, if it is, 
the boys will not like it. It ought to be hard enough, 
but no harder; and it is now very hard for seventh- 
and eighth-grade boys. Unfortunately, teachers have 
become so used to its diflSculty that if they made it 
so simple that they were ashamed of its simplic- 
ity, it probably would not even then be quite simple 
enough. 

Mediate Interest. If, after every effort to make 
grammar as simple as possible, it should still remain 
uninteresting, — not liked for its own sake, — we have 
recourse in school to certain generic values, which we 
have discussed in earlier chapters. These incentives are 
the same for grammar as for spelling and penmanship. 
If Johnnie does not like grammar, we may say to him, 
*' You cannot be graduated if you fail in grammar," 
or " You must learn this lesson, or — '* Here we hint 
at some obscure punishment, which is all the more 
stimulating for being nameless. This is the common 
method of securing interest, a borrowed interest, in the 



GRAMMAR 89 

subject; and, since it is common, it does not need to be 
discussed at length. Sufficient it is to say that these 
generic values are good things to use when everything 
else fails, but they are misused if they are used all the 
time. 

Creating a Specific Need for Grammar through Com- 
position. We have recourse to one other type of incen- 
tive in getting interest in grammar. We first find the 
intrinsic function of grammar, and then find situations 
in which something we want to do fails because grammar 
is not made to do its duty. This is just what we do in 
spelling and in writing. 

The intrinsic function of grammar is to assist in 
conveying values by means of sentences and words. 
Whenever, because of faulty grammar, we cannot 
communicate accurately things we are anxious to com- 
municate, we shall feel our inability and be willing 
to study grammatical forms. Whenever we want to 
tell something very much and get all mixed up in the 
telling because of poor language forms, we will study 
grammar. 

The first thing necessary, then, is for the pupils to 
work on interesting material. They must see an object 
in their language themes and history assignments; and 
they need, too, to see actual cases in which people 
have not understood them because their grammar was 
incorrect. 

Now, unfortunately, in school, children do not always 
feel that their themes and their oral reports are of enough 
value to make them worry any if what they write is not 
understood. And, unfortunately too, a lenient audience 
may guess at what the ungrammatical sentences mean 
and will not, therefore, make the child realize his failure 



90 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

to use correct grammatical forms. It is too bad that 
these are the conditions; but they are, and we have to 
meet them. 

In the face of this situation we ought to try to make 
language work as interesting as possible by methods such 
as were outlined in our last chapter, and should try to 
make not only grammar but all subjects as interesting 
as possible. Along with this, two or three devices for 
creating a need may be used. 

First, even though a teacher may be able to guess at 
the meaning of an ungrammatical sentence, as '* We- 
uns wants some chalk," he may say, " There is no such 
sentence in any grammar. I don't know what you mean; 
so you must speak correctly." That is, the teacher 
may pretend that he cannot understand ungrammatical 
sentences. This, then, may become an incentive to the 
study of grammar; the teacher and the pupils study to 
find the rules that will tell what is the correct form. 
This has to be used with care and tact, so as not to 
offend parents in communities where ungrammatical 
language is commonly used. 

Second, errors in written work may be collected by the 
teacher and kept on file for use in making the pupils 
realize their shortcomings. For instance, just before 
time to take up the case endings of pronouns, a series of 
sentences may be put on the board as follows : Her and /, 
It is me, Who did you speak to? etc. This list may be 
some time in the assembling. But w^ith all of it on the 
board at one time, the teacher may ask, " Is her and I 
correct? Is /^i^ me correct .f^" etc. Some pupils will know; 
others will have forgotten. Then the lesson will be well 
introduced by the teacher's explaining that to-day's 
lesson gives a rule for deciding which form is correct, so 



GRAMMAR 91 

that the class may know and will not have to remember 
mechanically. 

Some people object to putting incorrect forms on the 
board. This is wise in the language class, but there is 
no danger in the grammar class because at that time 
the rule for correcting is to be studied. 

Just as fast as we can make pupils ashamed of them- 
selves for making errors, we may hope for improvement; 
and in causing this shame, we may either get them to 
realize that they cannot be understood, or we may fall 
back upon the decorative use of grammar — we may 
try to build up an ideal for correct speech as a means of 
marking us as educated people. 

In many communities it is hard to get children to 
realize that they ought to speak grammatically; and in 
some cases, as was mentioned above, any one, except 
the teacher, who speaks grammatically is considered 
" stuck up." But in spite of these handicaps, the 
teacher who can himself speak grammatically (and I 
have heard in teachers' meetings some of the most 
ungrammatical language I have ever encountered any- 
where) should strive persistently and patiently and 
enthusiastically to set up ideals for correct speech. This 
she does in language work. As a motive for grammar 
study she uses it when the pupils are looking for the 
rule that determines the correct form in any given 
situation. 

SiTMMARY. Pupils do not like grammar because the teacher 
goes into the subject too deeply. If immediate interest is not 
present, appeal may be made to generic values, such as grades 
and detention, or a specific need may be aroused by making 
the pupils conscious of the errors in their written and spoken 
language. Every effort should be made to utilize this last 
method; and when it fails, recourse may be had to generic 
values. 



92 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Correlation. All that has been said about either the 
function of grammar, or the methods of arousing a need 
for it, implies that correlation is advantageous and 
necessary. The standard by which we judge one's hold 
upon grammar is the ability to speak grammatically in 
the composition, history, geography, and arithmetic 
classes. The study of grammar avails nothing apart 
from correlation with these subjects. Every lesson is a 
language lesson and, after grammar is studied, every 
lesson is a grammar lesson. 

There is a sort of correlation, however, that is disas- 
trous. There are teachers who make a correlation with 
literature by having the pupils use the literature selec- 
tions as grammar exercises. The prettiest poem in the 
language becomes for these people nothing more than a 
series of grammatical forms to be parsed and analyzed. 
Now this is criminal. Only under one condition may 
grammar be correlated with literature; that is, when the 
meaning of an abstruse passage will be made clear by 
analysis, and this need does not present itself very often. 

3. Learning Grammar 
Grammar consists of a series of rules and definitions. 
This makes it a good subject for the inductive method 
— a method not always used in teaching grammar. 
In fact, it is more common to use the other method. 

Telling. One of the commonest methods of teaching 
grammar is as follows : The topic is the definition of the 
adjective as a word that makes the meaning of the noun 
more exact. 

Teacher. I have put these sentences on the blackboard : — 
The largest green book is on the table. 
Alfred was the greatest king of England. 



GRAMMAR 93 

The words largest, green, greatest, are called adjectives, 
because they modify a noun, or make its meaning more exact. 
Now what part of speech is largest ? 

Answer. An adjective. 

T. Why? 

A. Because it modifies the noun hook. 

The other words having been taken up in the same 
way, the teacher gives new sentences containing adjec- 
tives, and has the pupils pick out the adjectives and 
parse them. 

It is to be noted here that the teacher gives the defini- 
tion to the pupils and then drills them upon it until 
they have it fully memorized. 

The Inductive Method. There is, however, another 
way in which we may approach this subject; namely, by 
the inductive method. This method has the advantage 
of helping the pupils to find out the rule for themselves 
instead of depending upon the teacher for it. The teacher 
does not tell the pupils, " These are adjectives because 
they modify nouns." Instead, by means of suggestive 
questions, she guides them in their thinking until they 
are able to tell her the function of the words. 

This method is called inductive, because by it a 
definition or rule is discovered by studying some par- 
ticular cases to which the rule applies. This is the com- 
mon characteristic of the inductive method. For in- 
stance, I wonder what the Japanese are like. If I use 
induction, I study a large number of Japanese men and 
women (particulars) and by comparing all these I draw 
the generalization, perhaps, that the Japanese are a 
courteous race. There are three steps — presentation of 
particulars, comparison, and generalization. One always 
finds these three steps in induction. 



94 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Now if we apply this to grammar, we may, in like 
manner, by presenting particular cases, draw from them 
the rules or definitions for ourselves. 

The first thing to do is to decide on the definition to 
be taught and the exact words that are to be used in it. 
Let us suppose that it is this : — 

A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun. 

The next thing is to decide what the pupils already 
know and what they will have to be told. They do not 
know the word pronoun, but they know the meaning 
of all the rest of the definition. 

Next let us proceed to have them find this rule for 
themselves with as little help from us as possible, re- 
membering that if we use induction they must find the 
rule by considering particular cases of nouns and pro- 
nouns. The teacher may do this by putting on the board 
a number of sentences, such as these : — 

1. Mary went home, but Mary returned later. 

2. I respect the man, but I fear the man. 

3. John priced the auto, but did not buy the auto. 

When this has been done, the lesson proceeds as fol- 
lows : — 

4. Teacher. Read these sentences. Do they sound right? 
What changes would you make? Answer. Change Mary to 
she; the man to him; and the auto to it. 

The teacher does this on the board by drawing a line 
through each noun and writing the pronoun above. 

5. T. What part of speech is Mary? A. A noun. 

6. T. Man? A. A noun. 

7. T. Auto? A. A noun. 

8. T. What does she do ? A. It stands for the noun Mary. 

9. T. What does him do ? A. It stands for the noun man. 
10. T. What does it do .? A. It stands for the noun auto. 



GRAMMAR 95 

11. T. What does each of the words she, him, and it do? 
A. Each is a word that stands for a noun. 

The teacher then writes on the board, is a word that 
stands for a noun. 

12. T. Such words are called pronouns. 

The teacher then writes the word 'pronoun on the board. 

13. T. What is a pronoun? A. A pronoun is a word that 
stands for a noun. 

Then follows the drill. 

A word or two will suffice to explain a few points. 
Numbers 1 to 10 all deal with presentation, or the exami- 
nation of the three particular cases. Number 1 1 leads the 
pupils to make a comparison; and number 1 1 is the gener- 
alization. Numbers 12 and 13 fix the generalization. 

Note that the only thing told the pupils by the 
teacher is the word pronoun. All the rest is worked out 
by the pupils themselves. Note also that in numbers 8, 
9, and 10 the teacher accepts answers that are almost 
identical in form with the generalization, number 11. 
If this is done in each case in the presentation, it makes 
comparison and generalization easier. 

The inductive method is used only where rules, defini- 
tions, or principles are to be studied, and where the 
teacher prefers to have the pupil discover these for them- 
selves, rather than to tell them outright. It is used by 
good teachers frequently when there is time and the 
rule is not too difficult to discover. All young teachers 
should experiment with this method to see how often 
they can use it successfully. ^ 

The Developing Method. In the lesson on the pro- 
noun just given, we illustrated both the inductive method 
and the developing method. Inductive method is the 



96 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

term applied to the process of discovering general facts 
by observing and studying particular cases. The term, 
developing method, is applied to the method of question- 
ing by which the teacher, telling only as much as is 
thought advisable, leads the pupils to discover things 
for themselves. In the foregoing lesson nothing was told 
except the name of the pronoun, which could not be 
drawn from the pupils hy questioning. 

Good judgment has to be used in deciding what should 
be developed and what told outright. It is much better 
to develop and cover less ground than to tell and cover 
too much, because that which is developed is remembered 
longer and understood better than that which is told. 
Young teachers, instead of telling everything, should, 
as we have just said, experiment a little to see how well 
and how frequently they can develop a lesson. The 
rate at which such teachers gain skill in developing 
and using questions is surprisingly rapid. 

Summary. The inductive method should be used in gram- 
mar to allow pupils to discover the rules and definitions by 
studying particular cases. The teacher should use the develop- 
ing method in order to have the pupils discover as much as 
possible for themselves without the necessity of the teacher's 
telhng them everything. 

Drill. The amount of memorizing in grammar is 
small compared with what is necessary in spelling. 

I am one of those who believe that all definitions in 
grammar that are worth learning are worth memorizing 
well. For we memorize things under two conditions: 
firsU when the thing memorized is to be used over and 
over again; and second, when it is put into better words 
than those improvised by the user. With reference to 
the first, we have decided that we would teach in gram- 



GRAMMAR 97 

mar only those things which are important; and in 
connection with the second, it is evident to one who 
examines these definitions with care that they have 
been put into words carefully chosen, each word mean- 
ing something definite and no word superfluous, the 
whole idea being much more accurately stated by the 
author than it could be by an eighth-grade pupil. For 
both these reasons, therefore, it is wise to have defini- 
tions memorized. 

The method of memorizing is the same as already 
outlined. First, be sure that the pupils understand the 
definition; and second, have attentive repetition till it 
becomes automatic. 

Application. At the same time that the memorizing 
is going on, the rule or definition should be used in 
every available place. That is, it should be applied as 
well as drilled upon. The term drill means the repeti- 
tion of the same thing over and over in exactly the same 
way. Application means the doing of a thing in different 
ways. Thus, for instance, we drill upon jumping if we 
stand in a spot and jump over and over again from the 
same place; but we apply jumping if, as we go about our 
business, we jump over a fence, across a stream, up a 
bank, and down a hillside. These are examples of applied 
jumping, since the same thing is done in many different 
situations. 

In the case of grammar, we drill upon the pronoun 
when we say over and over again, " A pronoun is a word 
that stands for a noun." We apply the definition when 
we study pronouns in many different sentences. 

In an ordinary grammar lesson, there are four differ- 
ent places in which applications may be made. 

Firsty as after question 13 given above, application 



98 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

to the sentences already used in the lesson from which 
the definition was developed may be made as fol- 
lows : — 

Teacher. What part of speech is she in sentence number 1? 
Answer. A pronoun. 

T. Why? A. Because it stands for a noun. 

T. In sentence number 2, what part of speech is' him? 
A. A pronoun. 

T. Why.'' A. Because it stands for a noun, etc. 

The reader will note that by asking the question 
Why? the teacher elicits a repetition of the definition, 
and drill is secured. The question Why? also makes 
the pupils think and enables the teacher to determine 
whether they are getting at the facts or are guessing. 

Second. Other simple sentences containing pronouns 
of increasing difficulty should be placed on the board, 
or examples may be selected carefully from the text. The 
teacher should be careful to see that the examples given 
are not too difficult, especially at first. Such sentences 
may be chosen as: " Find John and ask him to come 
to me." The same sort of exercise may be given as 
above, except that it may be made slightly more diffi- 
cult by the teacher's saying, " Are there any pronouns 
in the sentence? " and getting the answer " Yes "; fol- 
lowing this by the question, " What are they? " and 
getting from the children the answer " Him and me." 
Above, the teacher asked the part of speech of the pro- 
nouns after picking them out. Here, the pupils both 
pick them out and parse them. 

As a modification of this exercise, the pupils should 
be asked to write down a number of sentences, found in 
reading or used by classmates, in which pronouns occur. 
The process of making up sentences is rather valueless. 



GRAMMAR 99 

because the sentences become too formal and too much 
alike. 

Third. After the grammar lesson is over and all the 
seat study on the pronoun has been done, the teacher 
should use the children's knowledge of the pronoun 
whenever error arises in their oral or written speech. 
Here we have the crucial application. All the rest of the 
drill and study on grammar is merely preparatory to 
this application. Grammar is merely the servant of 
language and is not of much value in the grades except 
as an aid to speaking correctly. 

Fourth. Occasionally in the text books in geography, 

history, and literature, parsing and analysis may be 

used when there is likelihood of their making the 

meaning clearer. But such applications should be 

made under no other circumstances. 

Summary. Each definition should be thoroughly memorized. 
Application of all rules and definitions should be sought in the 
speech of the children in all classes; and, as preparation and aid 
in this, simple exercises containing the facts defined should be 
worked over at the time the definition is learned. 

4. Class Mechanics 

Devices. Such devices as diagrams, abbreviations 
for names, etc., should be used to save time. But in 
every case the class and the teacher should agree upon 
the form of the abbreviation, and that form should be 
adhered to. Thus, if the class decides on fro. for pronoun, 
each member writing should use that abbreviation. The 
teacher should not accept p., pr., or pron. If diagrams 
are used, these should follow the single plan, or the two 
or three plans decided upon. 

It is well to have a good many of the exercises in 
parsing written out, both because children are more 



100 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

accurate and can check mistakes when they write, and 
because the writing of the exercises is of great help in 
memorizing. However, the end and purpose of all gram- 
mar is to make the pupil competent to parse on his feet 
and orally, when he is in doubt which of two forms to 
say. There should, therefore, be much practice in oral 
analysis. 

Assignments. Two plans are followed in making 
assignments in grammar. The teacher may assign the 
next lesson in grammar — for example, the adjective 
— and expect the children to learn its definition out of 
the book. Or the teacher may lay down a rule that he 
will teach all definitions and rules in class, and will 
assign for home study exercises upon these definitions. 
Of these two, the latter is always preferable; for if the 
pupil learns the definition out of the book, he does not 
discover it for himself. It is told to him outright. 

The former method is used widely by poor teachers. 
They say, ** Study the adjective for to-morrow," and 
in the next day's recitation they quiz the pupils to see 
how well they have learned it. The latter method, which 
develops the definition in class, requires an assignment 
like this: " (1) Memorize the definition of the adjective. 
(2) Parse all the adjectives in these sentences." This 
is called a review assignment, while the other is called 
an advance assignment. So in grammar the assignments 
should always be review and not advance assignments, 
because the pupils will understand the definitions much 
better if they are developed in class. 

Study. The study of grammar in class has been dis- 
cussed. The inductive and developing methods should 
be used as much as possible. The seat study and the 
home study are very simple, because the teacher sets 



GRAMMAR 101 

the assignment quite definitely when she asks the chil- 
dren (1) to parse the adjectives in a group of sentences 
that she may have written on the board, and (2) to se- 
lect ten sentences containing adjectives from conversa- 
tion and books, and to underline the adjectives. These 
and other assignment questions are quite definite, and 
the pupils should have no trouble in working with them. 

It is a good plan to allow pupils of equal ability to 
study together, provided they do not disturb the room 
too greatly. By way of objection, it is claimed that this 
practice encourages one pupil to lean upon another. 
This can be obviated, however, by making leaners 
work alone, or by setting two leaners to work together. 
In support of the plan it is urged that study is much 
more joyous, that good students stimulate each other, 
and that much more ground can thus be covered. The 
teacher in allowing it should use good judgment, and if 
any combination is harmful it should be disbanded. 
Good examples of pupils working together may be 
found in Colin A. Scott's " Social Education," a short 
reference to which is given at the end of the chapter. 

Altemation. It seems to be practicable to alternate 
grammar in the seventh and eighth grades, in one year 
teaching the parts of speech and in the other analysis. 
However, a better plan is the one already suggested, to 
teach grammar only in the eighth grade, and then there 
will be no need for alternation. Otherwise, there should 
be a separate class for each grade. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Carpenter, Baker and Scott. The Teaching of English, pp. 

144-52. (General.) 
Charters. Methods of Teaching, pp. 314-35. (Induction.) 



102 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES ' 

Chubb. The Teaching of English, pp. 204-24. (General.) 

McKeever. Psychologic Method in Teaching, pp. 196-207, 
(General.) 

McMuRRY. Special Method in Language, pp. 130-39. (Illus- 
trative lessons.) 

Scott. Social Education, pp. 150-56, and many other pages. 
(Examples of group work.) 

Strayer, a Brief Course in the Teaching Process, pp. 51-69. 
(Induction.) 

White. The Elements of Pedagogy, pp. 255-68. (Suggestions 
about the order in which to take up topics in grammar.) 



CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. What difference will it make in your teaching whether 
you believe in the theory that grammar is studied merely to 
understand the sentence, or in the theory that grammar is 
studied to help people to speak correctly.?^ 

2. Give five examples of cases in which a meaning was mis- 
understood because expressed ungrammatically. 

3. Give five examples in which, though the form was un- 
grammatical, the meaning was clear. Was the meaning just 
as clear to you as though it had been expressed grammati- 
cally ? 

4. What do you think are the most effective incentives to 
move boys to study grammar? Are they the best.f* 

5. In your experience with children and your own associates, 
what do you consider to be the ten most common types of 
error in grammar? 

6. What rules and definitions in grammar cover these? 

7. Did you ever know a community in which it was con- 
sidered a sign of "uppishness" to try to speak grammatically? 
If so, give some details to illustrate the attitude. 

8. How can the timidity of pupils in using correct forms at 
home be overcome? 

9. Make an outline for all the parts of speech similar to the 
one made out for the noun, in the text. (The methods class 
ought to decide upon some text to follow in this outline.) 

10. Show how each item helps to make the meaning more 
definite (or in some cases easier to express). 

11. Which of the items in this outline could just as well be 
omitted? 

12. Take some interjection, such as Ouch, Mercy, or Lawsy 
and tabulate a half-dozen sentences that you have known each 



GRAMMAR I03 

to stand for, thus showing that the interjection is indefinite in 
its meaning. 

13. Whsitform of analysis do you prefer? 

14. What forms in parsing do you prefer? Illustrate. 

15. What scheme of diagramming have you seen used? 
Which do you prefer? 

16. Do you recall cases in which you were helped in speak- 
ing correctly by your knowledge of grammar? If so, give five 
cases. 

17. Do you like grammar? If so, why? If not, why not? 

18. Keep a list of all the mistakes in grammar you hear in a 
day, writing them down unobtrusively. What is the number? 
Which are the most frequent? Do they agree with your list of 
common errors given in question five above? 

19. Outline five other inductive lessons in connection with 
some other parts of speech, definitions, or rules. 

20. What are the advantages and disadvantages of giving as 
an assignment for the day following that on which any rule 
of grammar is studied in class, the making of a list of the cases 
in which the pupils hear the rule violated either in school or 
out? Is it practical to do this? 



CHAPTER V 

READING 

1. Subject-Matter 

A LARGER bibliography has been worked out for the 
teaching of reading than for the teaching of any other 
subject. There lie on my desk before me seven volumes 
devoted exclusively to this subject. Not more than two 
or three good books can be found upon the teaching of 
any other subject, while some subjects have no books 
devoted entirely to their treatment. 

The quality and effectiveness of the methods of teach- 
ing that have been worked out in connection with read- 
ing both in these books and in practice are better than 
those for any other subject. No other subject is, under 
average conditions, so successfully taught as is primary 
reading. No other subject has books so well adapted 
to its pupils as primers and first readers are. The excel- 
lent results attained in this subject lead us to have in- 
creasing hope for a similar excellence in all subjects. 

Function. Reading is the fifth member of the lan- 
guage group composed of spelling, writing, grammar, 
composition, and reading. We have seen that in the 
great function of communicating ideas, each of these 
others plays its own specific and different part. In pen- 
manship and spelling, we put ideas into written words; 
in language we deal with spoken words, but in reading 
we start with written or printed words and discover 
the ideas behind them. 

Reading is, of course, very important. If a man can- 



READING 105 

not read, he is dependent for his information upon what 
he knows, what he sees, and what others tell him. There 
is current or contemporary information; there is also 
information from the past. All the dead of all the past 
cannot be talked to now; therefore, if we would know 
the things they learned and wrote, we must read. 

Nevertheless, by the simple device of putting some 
odd-looking signs down on paper, it is possible to record 
facts; and if some other person knows what is meant 
by each of these signs, he can look at them and tell 
exactly what the maker of the signs intended to say. 
The business of reading is to learn what these forms 
mean and, with that as a basis, discover the connection 
of the ideas in the writer's mind. 

Summary: The function of reading is to interpret written 
and spoken words and to express their meaning to an audience. 
The first phrase — to interpret ivritten and spoken words — 
refers to silent reading. Both phrases taken together describe 
oral reading. 

Structure. When the reading process is analyzed, it is 
found to consist of five ingredients. 

First, there is the author's experience. He has some- 
thing to say. What he has to say may be very simple 
information, as, '*I was warm yesterday." It may be a 
command, as, " On receipt of this, come home." It 
may be very complex, and full of feeling, as the apostle's 
description of the Death on the Cross. But in any case 
the author knows and feels something that he puts into 
words. 

The writer, when he is about to put his experience 
into writing, organizes it according to the rules of lan- 
guage. He may throw it into the form of exposition, in 
which case he organizes his points so as to present them 



106 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

to the reader as he sees them. If he does this well, the 
organization can be easily outlined. On the other hand, 
he may throw it into the form of a narrative, in which 
case he again organizes it according to the laws and rules 
of narration, with an eye to the climax and conclusion. 

Second, there is a series of symbols into which the 
writer throws his experience, whatever it may be. We 
in this country have inherited an alphabet of twenty- 
six letters combined into what are called words. It is 
not necessary, of course, to use these. The Chinese have 
a very large literature which can be read, but they do 
not have an alphabet. The ancient Egyptians also 
wrote by means of hieroglyphics. But Anglo-Saxons, 
in fact, all European nations, and many other people, 
use the alphabet which we use as the basis of their 
symbols. 

The chief business of primary reading, as we shall see 
in a few pages, is to learn these symbols so that, having 
learned them, we may use them as tools in finding out 
what others have to say. 

A good deal has been discovered within the last few 
years about the best form in which printed letters may 
appear on a page. We have narrow pages and broad 
pages; small letters and large letters; heavy letters and 
thin letters; and only recently has any one tried to find 
out which is the best for the eye. 

Third. The reader has to build up in his experience 
the same experience that the writer had when he wrote. 
If the writer says, " I was warm yesterday," the reader 
must know what these words mean and must understand 
the experience for which the whole sentence stands. 
When Shakespeare wrote " The Merchant of Venice " 
he lived in imagination the experiences that he put upon 



READING 107 

paper. To read fully, the reader must duplicate these 
experiences. 

This, of course, is often hard to do, because the writer 
may be very emotional, whereas the reader may be 
almost emotionless. The writer may weep or laugh as he 
writes. The reader may get the idea, but miss any 
intensity of feeling, either of sorrow or of joy. In such 
case the reading is not the best; such a reader could 
never make an actor. 

Fourth. After the reader has secured the meaning, 
has built up in himself the experience of the writer, he 
needs to utter it aloud. This involves the vocal organs 
and the whole speaking apparatus, including the tongue, 
teeth, palate, vocal cords, lungs, and diaphragm. A 
slight defect in any one of these may upset the whole 
reading process. A cleft palate, diseased vocal cords, or 
the absence of the tongue, might destroy the possibility 
of speech. 

Each of these organs is built so as to help in the process 
of speech. Probably the teeth, tongue, lungs, and dia- 
phragm were not evolved in the long history of the race 
to help in speech. More probably, when man began to 
speak, he made use of those sounds that were most 
effective with the organs he already had. 

An examination of any text book on elocution will 
show that great stress is laid upon the mechanics of 
voice. The book in my hand, typical of most books on 
the subject, deals with the use of the nostrils, abdomen, 
and mouth, the active and passive chest, and the waist, 
neck, and throat movements, with breathing and the 
vocal cords. While these terms overlap, they indicate 
the extent to which a reader needs to use his vocal 
organs. The ability to use these well is the chief char- 



108 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

acteristic that differentiates a finished reader from a 
tyro. 

Most people do not use their vocal organs with the 
maximum of effectiveness. They seldom breathe cor- 
rectly and usually do not articulate well. To remedy 
this was the great object of the early elocutionist. Fre- 
quently, correct reading was secured at the expense of 
the writer's meaning. That is, the reader would fre- 
quently be so trained that he would give more attention 
to his method of delivery than to what he was saying. 
But in these latter days we pay too little attention to 
the vocal organs. 

Fifth, and finally, there is an audience to be read to. 
After the reader has secured the writer's idea for himself, 
he may then, in the complete act of reading, use his vocal 
apparatus in repeating the written words to others. 

Just as the reader reproduces the experience of the 
author in his mind, so the audience reproduces the same 
experience. This reproduction in the mind of the audi- 
ence is the whole aim of the reader. He feels that he is 
successful if he makes the audience see the situation as 
he sees it, or feel it as he feels it. 

Of course, the auditor may read it for himself if he 
knows how to read, and many prefer to do so. But there 
is one advantage in listening to a good reader; that is, 
that the reader often understands better than the audi- 
ence what the author means and how he feels, and by 
the inflections of his voice may help his hearers to appre- 
ciate more fully than if they merely read uninflected 
printed words for themselves. 

The complete act of reading, composed of the five 
factors, is called oral reading. Sometimes a person may 
read aloud to himself, but that is not oral reading in the 



READING 109 

strict sense, since there is no audience. The first three 
ingredients constitute the act of silent reading in which 
the reader gets the idea of the writer and rebuilds in 
himself the experience of the writer. 

Summary: Reading involves five factors: (1) an experience 
in the mind of the writer, which he organizes; (2) a series of 
words into which he translates the experience; (3) a reader 
who deciphers the symbols and reproduces in himself the 
experience of the writer; (4) vocal organs to be used by the 
reader who has deciphered the symbols and reproduced 
the experience of the writer; and (5) an audience to which 
the reader reads the experience so that the audience also 
may reproduce in itself the experience of the author. 

Standards of Good Reading. The standards for good 
reading are implied in the last section. Silent reading 
is good reading when the reader reproduces in himself 
the experience of the writer. Oral reading is perfect 
reading when it reproduces in the audience the experi- 
ence of the writer. 

There are, however, a few standards that are used by- 
critics which are in a measure dependent upon the stand- 
ard just stated. These are defined by Clark as the 
criteria of time, pitchy quality, and force. They are 
dependent upon the foregoing standard because to con- 
vey the experience of the author to the reader there is a 
rate of reading that will do this best. This is time. There 
is a pitch which is best suited to the conveying of the 
idea. It may need to be high or low. Then there is a 
feeling to be nicely graduated and shifted from thought 
to thought by the voice. This is quality. And finally the 
idea to be expressed will best clothe itself in loud or soft 
tones, and thereby will exhibit force. 

These qualities are dependent upon the standard we 
have set up. The following stanza will illustrate this : — 



110 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note. 
As his corse to the ramparts we hurried; 
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot 
O'er the grave where our hero we buried. 

What determines the rate of reading — the time to be 
spent on the different words? That time will be best 
which will make the audience feel exactly as the writer 
felt. What determines the pitch of each word? Again, 
that which will best convey to the auditor the exact 
feeling of the writer. So also the quality and force are 
likewise determined by the same consideration. 

In due time we shall deal more extensively with the 
methods by which these standards may be applied. But 
at this point we have the best opportunity to empha- 
size an error in the average teacher's methods of criti- 
cizing reading. 

It frequently happens that after a child has read, the 
teacher says, ** That was a little too fast," or ** too slow," 
or ** too loud," or ** That was very well read, but read 
it again and give more expression." The point I wish 
to make here is that so far as the reader is concerned, 
such criticisms are purely mechanical and quite useless 
to him, unless he feels why it is too slow, or too low. 
To say merely, *' This is too slow," is to make a criticism 
of no significance. Only by having the reader feel such 
lines as 

Come and trip it as we go 
On the light fantastic toe, 

as something light and cheerful and not very important 
can we show^ him the need for faster time. 

In judging of the excellence of reading, the teacher 
has two tests to apply; each of these takes the form of a 
question. The first is, Does the pupil actually under- 



READING 111 

stand and feel what he is reading? This can be answered 
by the way in which he reads. If he reads understand- 
ingly, feelingly, he is at least understanding and feeling 
what he reads. The other test hinges on the question, 
Does he make his audience understand and feel what he 
reads? This is more diflScult to decide, unless the teacher 
is part of the audience, because, while the reader is 
using his voice, the audience is listening and cannot 
completely indicate its understanding and feeling 
through attitude and facial expression, although it can 
do so in part. As a boy reads, " Not a drum was heard," 
etc., the teacher can determine pretty accurately from 
his tones how much he understands and feels. But if the 
teacher watches the class instead of listening to the 
reading, he has difficulty in knowing from mere scrutiny 
how much of what the reader understands and feels he is 
passing on to the class. 

The class ought to be used as a criterion, of course, 
provided it is listening to a selection it has never heard 
before. The teacher can watch the faces and afterward 
ask a few well-chosen questions, which will show how 
much the pupils have understood. The intensity of the 
feeling aroused can be discovered best by the faces. This 
test, that of gauging good reading by the understanding 
and feeling of the reader and the audience is a little 
harder than the more usual test for the teacher to apply, 
but it is immeasurably more valuable for the pupils. 
It is much easier to decide whether or not the pupil 
is reading too fast or too slowly, too loud or too low; 
and, of course, it is much easier to make criticisms of 
this character and let him try again in a mechanical 
way. But when the mechanical change has been made, 
the pupil has no more to guide him in future reading 



112 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

than he had before. On the other hand, when the teacher 
spends time enough to get him to understand what he is 
reading and, through him, to help his audience Hkewise 
to understand, he is learning the criterion for himself. 
It is easier to say, " John, read that again and more 
slowly " than to say, *' John, you did not do that very 
well because you do not understand this line," and to 
follow up this criticism with a study of the line; but 
the latter is getting at the substance of the method, 
while the former attends only to the form. 

Personally, I am of the opinion that, for grade reading, 
the standard ought to be set for plain rather than for 
dramatic reading. If a boy seems to understand what he 
reads, if he reads intelligently, enough has been accom- 
plished. This means that in many selections with strong 
emotions little attention will need to be paid to the 
emotional element. As a matter of fact, many selec- 
tions studied by children have emotions so deep and 
complex that even the average adult cannot feel them. 
Take such selections as, — 

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the 
price of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God ! I know 
not what course others may take; but, as for me, give me lib- 
erty or give me death! 

This feeling is so exalted and so emphatically an adult 
emotion that grade children can appreciate it only very 
superficially. So, to try to get them to read it as Edwin 
Booth or Richard Mansfield might have read it, makes 
them artificial. I should be satisfied with their reading 
if I saw that they understood the selection. Any addi- 
tional emotion that this or that individual reader 
expressed, I should gladly welcome; but I would make 
no serious effort to have them express emotion that is 



READING 113 

not present. Let the pupil get into the spirit of the pass- 
age just as fully as he can with the aid of the teacher, 
and then let the expression of the emotion take care of 
itself. 

Excellent teachers of reading, intelligent and well 
trained in the tricks of elocution, who have had much 
teaching experience, may safely train pupils to read with 
emotional expression by artificial rules working from the 
outside in, as well as from the inside out. But young 
rural school teachers and many teachers without the 
training I have specified should make no such attempt. 
They tread dangerous ways when they do more than 
try to get their pupils into the experience and let the 
expression of feeling take care of itself. 

Summary. The standard of good reading lies in the ability 
of the reader to enter into the experience of the author, and 
to make his audience enter into the same experience. Time, 
pitch, quality, and force are all secondary standards derived 
from this. With rural school children, teachers should be 
satisfied if the pupils understand what they read and read 
well enough to make the audience understand. The expression 
of deep or complex emotions, or of any emotion, should be 
incidental to the understanding of what is read. 

Course of Study. As we have seen above, the things 
to be learned by the reader are, first, to experience the 
meaning of the author; second, to master certain word 
forms; and third, to express this experience by means of 
vocal organs. These are the things to be taught in 
reading: the mastery of symbols, the appreciation of a 
writer's experience, and its expression to others by 
means of a vocal mechanism. 

The question to be discussed now is. What should 
be taught in each grade in connection with all three of 
these points .f* , 



114 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

The mastery of word forms begins in the first grade. 
Here, as will be seen in our next section, the children 
learn the forms photographically; that is, as forms only, 
without knowledge of the letters at first. They are told 
what each word is. In the second and third grades they 
begin by phonics and by more general knowledge to 
recognize new words by their own unaided efforts, and 
possibly by the end of the fourth grade they are able 
to handle almost any word of which they know the 
meaning and many words the meanings of which they 
have not yet learned. 

Nowadays, the study of words throughout the grades, 
as we shall see in our next section, is incidental to other 
experiences. There is little logical arrangement, except 
occasionally in phonic drill exercises. Each word comes 
in connection with an interesting thought which lies 
behind the word. 

In reading we have one of the best examples of a 
psychological organization, for here, in an unusual 
degree, words are studied just as they are needed. No 
attempt is made any more to follow a set order of words. 
Children are given interesting stories that they love 
to read, and when the story is halted for a moment be- 
cause a word is not understood, there is a strong effort 
made by the pupil to learn the name of the unknown 
word. 

The children come to school with the ability to use 
their vocal cords, so all that the school has to do is to 
perfect their use. Formerly this was done in the grades 
in a systematic way. In some schools of oratory it is 
still done in that way, but in the grades to-day the work 
is taken up unsystematically. When articulation seems 
to be poor, correct articulation is drilled upon. When 



READING 115 

the pupils mumble, they are encouraged to speak more 
clearly. When they shout, their voices are brought 
down to a reasonable level of force. Here again, we have 
a psychological organization. The mechanics of the 
vocal organs are developed as a need for each set of 
mechanics seems to be felt. 

Finally, in understanding the author's experience, 
and reliving it with him again, there is no fixed arrange- 
ment. Stories, fables, myths, biography follow one 
another in no logical order. What order does exist, 
exists because of the feeling that the subject-matter 
taught should fit into the stage of development of the 
children taught. It is felt that a child of six years 
should have reading matter different from that for a 
child of ten or fifteen. 

Stages of Development. That children differ from 
adults is a matter of common experience. That their 
interests change from year to year has been observed 
by everybody. That they study with the greatest suc- 
cess those things that are of most interest to them is a 
fundamental pedagogical doctrine. 

Because of this, attempts have been made to mark 
off the child's interest by stages. If we could only know 
what interests are strongest in each grade we should 
have an easy time getting the children to work hard and 
intelligently. We should not want to mollycoddle them, 
but we could avoid teaching things of no possible 
interest. Unfortunately, up to date no one has made a 
really unassailable classification. One writer says that 
we can practically count upon the presence of any in- 
stinct in any grade. Others divide the years up to 
adolescence, which begins with the changing voice and 
sexual maturity in boys and girls, into three stages: 



116 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

infancy, up to the time the child can talk, at about 
eighteen months; childhood, from eighteen months to 
eight years; and youth, from eight to twelve. Adoles- 
cence is defined as from twelve to twenty-four. Other 
writers make other divisions, and none of them is 
unassailable. 

One particular attempt should be described very 
briefly, not because it is correct, but because for a time it 
seemed to be very useful, and still has helpful sugges- 
tions for teachers. One of these is the recapitulation 
theory^ which holds that any one from conception to 
maturity passes through the same stages through which 
the race has passed from the beginning of life till now. 
It has been observed that the foetus of any animal 
before birth passes through the lower orders in a super- 
ficial way at least. For instance, the human embryo in 
one stage before birth cannot be distinguished super- 
ficially from that of a fish, later of a dog. Man has 
evolved in these stages in millions of years, and each 
individual child passes through the same stages. But 
the child makes the passage more rapidly. Likewise, 
the upholders of this doctrine claim that just as the 
race passed through the tree-dwelling, cave-dwelling, 
hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages, each child 
after birth passes through the same stages, only he does 
it in a few years instead of a few hundred thousands of 
years, as has been the case with the race. 

The pedagogical implication of this theory is that 
children should be taught the arts of each of these 
stages while they are in them. Let them hunt and make 
bows and arrows, slings, cross bows, etc., while in the 
hunting stage. Allow them to live in caves, make stone 
implements, work with skins, and experiment with fire. 



READING 117 

etc., in the cave-dwelling stage. Fit each of these stages 
with the appropriate training. 

As a theory, this will not hold with any exactness. 
We cannot see these stages in children very clearly, and 
they often skip them completely. But as a source of 
suggestion for simplifying school work and letting the 
children do primitive things, it has been illuminating and 
useful. For undoubtedly we have kept children in 
school too close to books and seat work and have not 
given them the opportunity to work with things that 
they should have had. When we discuss the manual 
arts, I shall take pleasure in giving many illustrations 
of how the appeal to primitive implements, as men- 
tioned above, — stone hammers, skins, spears, bows 
and arrows, shell spades, etc., — are of great use in the 
grades. 

There is so much confusion about what is the correct 
view to take of the stages of childhood and the charac- 
teristics of each stage, that the teacher hardly knows 
what to do. All teachers, whether inexperienced or 
experienced, feel the same uncertainty. In the light of 
this, the only thing the rural teacher ought to do is to 
follow the courses of study and outlines prepared for 
him, and deviate whenever in his experience with his 
group of children it seems wise to do so. The courses of 
study have been prepared with these stages in mind; 
they cannot be infallible, but in all probability the 
average teacher cannot better them except in details; 
he can, however, modify a course to suit his classes 
and can undoubtedly improve upon it here and there. 

Summary. The course of study in word recognition in the 
use of the vocal organs is not logically organized. The organ- 
ization is psychological. The subject-matter that is read is, for 



118 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the most part, arranged in the course of study according to 
what the organizer considered to be the stages of development 
of the children concerned. But there is no consensus of opinion 
upon the characteristics of the stages, and the inexperienced 
rural teacher has to depend upon the course of study that is 
given him and upon his own ripening judgment in applying 
it to his classes from year to year and from grade to grade. 

^. Primary Reading 

We shall give a separate section to primary reading 
because it differs in detail from advanced reading. The 
similarity between the two is evident. The differences 
in detail are due to the fact that in primary reading the 
pupils have to master a new tool — the letters and the 
word. Once these are conquered, the problem changes 
to one of drill and application. But the method of mas- 
tery of the word forms is different in detail from the 
later drill; and so a separate section is devoted to it. 

Function of Primary Reading. The peculiarity of pri- 
mary reading by which it differs from reading in general 
is that in it word forms must be learned for the first time. 
When the child has finished the primary grades, what- 
ever else he may have learned, he must have mastered 
the art of knowing words at sight and connecting them 
with what they stand for. The child should be able to 
take a page of print, which to the unlearned means 
nothing, and on the page presented give each set of 
letters the name that people at large give it. Then, if he 
can do this, he is able to work at the meaning that lies 
behind the words. Primary reading methods deal with 
this process of recognizing or giving names to words. 

The Alphabetic Method. There are a number of inter- 
esting facts to be considered in connection with primary 
reading methods. First among these is the system of 
teaching reading known as the alphabetic method. 



READING 119 

It is interesting because it shows how the adult mind 
with all its logical powers fails to understand certain 
simple facts about children. For the alphabetic method 
assumes that children recognize words just as adults do. 
An adult when he meets a new word, as peripatetic, for the 
first time spells it out: p-e-r-i-p-a-t-e-t-i-c, or syllabicates 
it as : per-i-pa-tet-ic, and by rapidly pronouncing it gets 
the word in correct form at last. That is, he first uses the 
letters, then the syllables, and finally the word. 

So for many centuries the schools taught little chil- 
dren the letters first and then set them to studying 
syllables and words. But in doing so they overlooked the 
interesting fact that one can learn to tell dog from hat 
just as easily, or more easily than he can distinguish d 
from k. It was not known that words may be learned 
as wholes without any knowledge of letters; that a child 
can recognize dog or whistle without knowing any one 
of the letters of which it is composed. If they had stopped 
to think, they would have realized that it is possible to 
recognize a person without being able to tell the color 
of his eyes, the shape of his nose, or the way he wears 
his hair. And so it is possible to recognize whistle with- 
out knowing any of its " features." 

The word horse is distinguished from house by little 
children, not because r takes the place of w, since they 
know no letters, but because horse does not look the 
same as house; there is a difference in the center of the 
word. Here, again, the parallel with faces helps. It 
frequently happens that where two persons look as 
much alike as horse and house, we can tell them apart 
without exactly knowing why. 

The Word Method. When it was discovered that 
children may get word pictures before learning the ele- 



120 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

mental letters that compose them, a great advance was 
made because of the possibility of producing more 
interest. If interest can be secured, learning is more 
rapid. This the word method was able to accomplish 
because, while children have little interest in a, 6, c, etc. 
as letters, thinking them little nuisances in many cases, 
they have great interest in such things as candy, 
knives, ropes, balls, dogs, etc., and learn the word 
forms that stand for them much more rapidly than the 
children before them learned letters. Now it is possible 
for children in a year to learn to recognize as many as 
twelve hundred words in ordinary reading. If they 
have mastered twelve hundred common words, they 
can read almost every word in a newspaper. 

The analogy of this work with that of recognizing 
people may be used again. A page of words is like a 
crowd of people. In reading a page of words, the task is 
just the same as identifying each person in the crowd; 
and ability to read is judged by the accuracy and speed 
with which the identification takes place. And just as 
one may recognize every person in the crowd, and be 
able to tell the color of the eyes of none, so, theoretically, 
one is able to recognize every word in the English 
language without knowing a letter. 

Phonic Method. In order to do this, however, some 
one who knew each word would have to be beside the 
reader to tell him the name of each. This is a waste of 
time, if a method can be devised by which children may 
build up words for themselves. This is accomplished 
by the use of phonics. It is found that, after a number 
of words have been learned as pictures, the children 
begin to notice the differences, and this leads gradually 
and naturally to letters. That is, if the children studied 



READING 121 

words long enough, they would discover the letters for 
themselves; though, of course, some one would have to 
tell them the names of the letters. 

But when they learn the names of the letters, they 
are not greatly benefited in getting hold of new words 
for themselves; for the names of the letters when put 
together seldom give the word. For instance, c-a-t 
when pronounced letter by letter does not give cat. It 
spells see-a-tee, a quite different word. 

So the letter-sound has been utilized instead of the 
letter-name, and instead of spelling cat as see-a-tee, it is 
sounded huh-at-tuh. In this way, the child, if he knows 
the letter-sounds, can build up words. 

One serious trouble, however, that he faces, arises 
from the fact that many letters have more than one 
sound. This is true of all the vowels, and of such letters 
as c and g. So the child in mastering these sounds 
encounters a great deal of difficulty. 

Some people have worked out primary reading by 
beginning as in the alphabetic method, but using 
phones or letter-sounds instead of letter-names. They 
are said to use, then, a phonic instead of an alphabetic 
method. But where they begin with the sounds they 
have just the same trouble that is encountered in 
handling the alphabetic method. The children are no 
more interested in letter-sounds than in letter-names. 

Hence, because of the difficulty of using letter- 
sounds and because of their own immediate lack of 
interest, phonics should not be taught until the chil- 
dren have learned from one hundred to two hundred 
words and are where they need to learn new words for 
themselves. When children have learned a number of 
words of the same sort, they can compare and discover 



122 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the similar sounds, as t in time^ treCy table, tack; and when 
that point is reached, phonics becomes very easy. 

When phonics is taught, it should be taught very 
probably in a period separate from the reading period; 
but applications should constantly be made in the read- 
ing period. Only the more important sounds and com- 
binations should be studied, but these should be thor- 
oughly mastered. 

The Sentence Method. It has been found that the 
appeal to interest can be strengthened by using the 
words in sentences. For instance, the word dog has still 
more interesting connections in a sentence than when 
used alone, interesting as it is alone. In the sentence 
" Play with the dog," many new feelings of interest 
are tapped, and this is true wherever words are thrown 
together in sentences as interesting as the ingenuity 
of the teacher can discover. 

Summary. The problem in primary reading is to teach the 
children to recognize words on the printed page. This can 
best be done where the words are connected with interesting 
experiences of the children, and their use in sentences helps 
to do this. The letter-names and sounds enter incidentally 
into the study after the children have a considerable vocabu- 
lary, and are of use to them in deciphering new words. 

At some time in the early grades the children should be 
taught to say the alphabet both backward and forward with 
great rapidity for use in consulting dictionaries and indexes 
of various sorts. 

Things of Interest to Children. It is not our purpose 
to enter into a long description of methods of teaching 
primary reading, because a good literature has been 
worked out and short references are given at the end of 
the chapter. We are trying merely to describe the 
essentials, the points that are of the greatest impor- 



READING 123 

tance in showing the tendencies of the methods now in 
use. 

As we have mentioned from time to time, children 
learn words most easily and most vividly when they are 
connected with things of interest. What some of these 
interesting things are may be summarized for use. 

Most of the early school readers chose common 
objects with monosyllabic names. They chose these 
because the names were easy to spell; for example, haU 
fan, ox, man. More recently, however, we find use being 
made of nursery rhymes, which the children probably 
know by heart and love. Being known and loved, they 
are enjoyed when read in books. Industrial occupations 
and simple primitive activities also are used to give an 
interest to the words. The plays and games of children 
are not infrequently used as a basis for the reading 
lesson. Actions are expressed in sentences, as, *' Find 
the ball," *' Hide the picture," and so on. One reading 
book has the circus, its animals and activities, as the 
basis. Others use directions for making things and for 
doing things. In some cases dramatics are used to give 
an interest to the study of the words. 

In many cases the subject-matter is quite inane and 
silly, as viewed by a normal six-year-old. This, however, 
is coming to be less and less the case as we get further 
and further away from the idea that little simple words, 
easy to spell, are the easiest to learn. As we free our- 
selves from this fallacy, the primers reach out into new 
fields of interest, so that by the use of a few such books 
the children gain a wide and wonderful range of interest. 
There is a growing tendency in the best schools to 
introduce a great deal of manual work, such as will 
later be described in Chapter VIII on " Manual Arts," 



124 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

including much clay modeling, basketry, and picture 
drawing. As this is done, the reading may very well be 
worked in around it and made incidental to the grinding 
of meal, the making of boats or bows and arrows, and 
the building of snowshoes or sledges. 

Blackboard. The effort to bring as much interest as pos- 
sible into the reading naturally leads to the free use of 
the blackboard. For the reading book, at best, is not so 
flexible in its use as is the board. On the board the 
teacher may write up-to-date words of immediate inter- 
est, and may rub out and rewrite all in a little time. 
Whole conversations of great moment may be carried 
on by the teacher with the pupils — not stiff and stilted 
conversation, but free and flowing conversation in which 
is blended children's wit and humor and joyous activity. 

The use of the blackboard requires, of course, the use 
of script, because printing is too slow for the teacher. 
Some teachers require the pupils to do a great deal of 
printing, but many of the best teachers rely entirely on 
script and never require the pupils to print. 

Many teachers do not use the book for the first six 
weeks, but do all the teaching on the blackboard and at 
the seats. In such cases, it takes only a few days to lead 
the pupils from writing script to reading print, and 
during that time the pupils may be required to print, 
although not all good teachers do even that.' 

Charts. Many schools use charts with words on them 
for primary reading. If you have charts, you may make 
some use of them. It is unwise, however, to purchase 
them. Much better use may be made of the time with 
work on the blackboard. The purpose of the charts is 
to give drill to all the class; but more interest and, 
therefore, better results can be secured by other means. 



READING 125 

Drill. In order that children may recognize words 
rapidly and accurately, drill is necessary. There are 
three ways of getting drill. One is to use a reading 
book in which the same words appear over and over 
again. Many primers, in fact nearly all, bear in mind 
this repeated use of the same words and weave them 
into succeeding stories. Psychology teaches us that this 
is a good way to memorize, for it provides repetition 
with intervals between the repetitions. In selecting 
such books, however, one should avoid those in which 
the author thought so much about bringing in all the 
review words that he forgot to make the lessons inter- 
esting. 

Another method of drill is the use of artificial exer- 
cises. The word may be written over and over upon the 
board by the teacher, the pupils may write the word 
over and over, and they may have the words on strips 
of paper to pick out as seat work. All these are useful. 

Supplementary Reading. A third method of getting 
drill is to use much supplementary reading. A pupil 
who has read six books in the first grade will have a 
better hold upon the words in any one of the books than 
if he had spent all his time on that one book; and, of 
course, he will know more words. The reason for this is 
that in using the same book over and over, the interest 
is lost; while in supplementary reading the interest is 
strong whenever the review word, or any other word, 
is seen, because of the interest in the new supplementary 
story. 

In the rural school, where money is not available for 
the purchase of many supplementary readers, the 
teacher may, instead of buying six supplementary 
readers of the same kind, buy six different readers, 



126 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

and in that way give each pupil a chance to read 
six books. These books should be easily accessible 
to the pupils, so that they may read them at any time 
when they have finished the necessary work. 

It is almost impossible to make a good reader of 
anybody who does not read widely. One-book readers 
are poor readers, and the teacher should use every 
means available to get simple supplementary material. 
For the greatest single thing the school can do for its 
pupils is to teach them to read fluently and thereby 
gain access to the world of knowledge and inspiration 
that is tied up in books. 

Standards in Primary Reading. The task of the pri- 
mary pupil is to pick out individual words from a page 
of words. He has to recognize them one by one. Since 
the number of words he knows is so very small com- 
pared with the number that are strangers to him, he 
needs to know very well indeed those that he knows at 
all. This means that plenty of drill should be given on 
each word, so that it can be recognized accurately. It 
pays to go slowly at first and to leave no new word 
until it is mastered. Likewise, old words should be 
reviewed in order that they may not be forgotten. 

In primary reading there are two dangers in the mat- 
ters just referred to. One teacher may go ahead so fast 
that the new words are not half learned. Another 
teacher may go so slowly that interest is killed. A good 
teacher will maintain interest while securing thorough- 
ness. This will be done by the ingenious and skillful 
use of the blackboard. 

Besides recognizing words with accuracy, the pupil 
should be able to read them aloud rapidly. This is 
frequently not the case. Children are allowed to halt 



READING 127 

between words in reading. But if the teachers in the 
primary grades made the pupils read as they talked, 
naturally and fluently, and if each teacher following did 
the same, there would be no errors of this nature to 
correct in the high school. The easiest way to cure the 
error is to keep it from occurring. 

Summary. The standard for good reading in the primary 
grades is fluency. Words should be recognized as accurately 
and quickly as is within the capacity of the little people. 

3. Motive jor Study 

We have again our three possible cases. A pupil may 
have immediate interest in reading, he may be made to 
have an interest through the appeal to some generic 
value, such as good grades, or he may have an interest 
aroused by an appeal to a specific need. 

The first two need no further elaboration. If immedi- 
ate interest is present, that is the end of the matter. 
If appeal is made to generic values, the method is the 
same as that stated in the chapter on spelling. The 
third, however, deserves further elaboration. 

Silent Reading. The method of arousing a specific 
need for a subject is, as we recollect, to discover the 
intrinsic function and select situations in which the 
reader suffers because he cannot read. The intrinsic 
function of silent reading is to get ideas from the 
printed page. If, then, the ideas on the printed page are 
of great value to the reader, he will see the importance 
of reading and feel the handicap of not being able to 
read. 

The whole essence, then, of motive in reading, the 
whole secret of getting boys and girls to be interested in 
reading, is to give them material that they like to read. 



128 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

As they find a story more and more absorbing, they 
read faster, and they look with greater interest for the 
meanings of those words that are the key to the situation 
and whose absence leaves the story incomplete. This 
is a very simple rule and one very easy of application. 
In the last analysis, all that is needed to make rapid and 
fluent readers after the mechanics have been learned is a 
library of interesting and not too difficult literature into 
which to turn the child. If it is vital material, the child 
will read it. This does not mean a library of material of 
interest to an adult. It means literature of interest to 
the reader. It may include blood and thunder stories 
of good literary quality, fairy stories, biographies, and 
tales of adventure; but whatever it is, if it grips the boy, 
he will read on in it and gain in fluency, in the reading. 

Oral Reading. In oral reading all that has been said 
about silent reading is of use. To be a good oral reader, 
the pupil must think that the selection he reads is 
" pretty fine stuff." 

But oral reading, to be inspiring, must go further than 
that. To have a motive for the study of oral reading, the 
reader must feel that he is giving his hearers something 
that they, too, think is " pretty fine stuff," and with 
which they are not very familiar. This is parallel with 
the motive for language. 

If a boy gets up to read a selection from a book, and, 
seeing the book open before each pupil, knows that the 
others are familiar with what he is reading, he has no 
motive for reading aloud. He certainly would not do it 
anywhere else but in school, where he does it under 
compulsion; and, of course, his reading is perfunctory. 
Why should he read with interest, since everybody 
knows all about it already? 



READING 129 

Something is gained, nevertheless, from a reading of 
selections by pupils when all the other pupils have their 
books open. What is gained is fluency and accuracy 
in words. Something also is lost; and that is interested 
enthusiasm in oral reading. 

So long as a pupil's audience already knows what he 
is reading, he will not care particularly whether he reads 
too fast or too slowly, too loudly or too low, nor will he 
care if he mumbles or " calls " his words. 

The audience suffers from this, too. They listen with 
an effort to stuff they already know. They grow inat- 
tentive, and the teacher has to invent devices to keep 
their eyes on the book. For instance, he has them watch 
for mistakes (which, of course, is no great aid to the 
enthusiasm or composure of the reader), or he makes 
the reader stop suddenly in the midst of a sentence 
and compels some one else to start " where he left 
off," thereby catching the boy whose mind is wander- 
ing. 

Now, all this inattention can be cured if the teacher 
can arrange matters so that frequently the reader can 
read something interesting to the audience which the 
audience has not heard before. 

This can be done on special occasions, as Friday after- 
noons, or for a few minutes twice a week. On these 
occasions the pupils may bring in jokes and anecdotes 
that they think are good and which they think the class 
would enjoy. Again, the teacher, using supplementary 
material, may in a small class give different pupils differ- 
ent books to read orally; or in a large class he may give 
one half the class one kind of book and the other half 
another. Then, when one half of the class is reading, 
the other half is the audience, and vice versa. Thus, in 



130 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

history and geography, the teacher may allow the pupils 
to refer to the exact expressions in the book and read 
them in case an argument is raised. Here, the reader 
reads with conviction to convince an ignorant audience. 
In such cases as this, pupils will care whether they are 
understood or not. They will be interested in trying to 
read with the right speed to make themselves intelligible. 
They will take an interest in whatever articulatory 
exercises and drills in pronunciation are necessary to 
make them able to interest an audience. 

Summary. In silent reading the most important factor is 
interesting reading material, and in oral reading an added 
and equally important factor is an interested audience to 
which to read. These are the alpha and the omega of the read- 
ing process. 

Correlation. Reading is one subject that can hardly 
be studied except in correlation with literature or some 
other subject in the course of study. It is a vehicle by 
which all knowledge may be transmitted, and in grade 
school or high school it can be studied very little apart 
from the content it carries. We have just been pointing 
out the fact that if this content is of interest, then the 
reading will be well taken care of. It should also be 
pointed out that high ability in reading when applied to 
any other subject is an aid toward excellence in that 
subject; for often a pupil's poor hold upon history, 
geography, or even arithmetic, is due to the fact that 
he cannot read accurately and rapidly. 

u^. The Study of Upper-Grade Reading 
The Natural Method. The method now used by nearly 
every teacher in teaching the mechanics of reading is 
based upon the natural manner of talking. The theory 



READING 131 

is stated as follows: If a pupil understands what he 
reads, he will read it naturally; and if he reads it natu- 
rally, he will read it correctly. Negatively, this means 
that if pupils make mistakes in reading, it is because 
they do not understand and appreciate what they read. 
So, to correct errors, it is necessary to see that the pupils 
understand the content of their reading. 

This principle is a great advance over the old mechan- 
ical methods, as you will see in a few moments; and used 
with its limitation in mind, it is worthy of general 
acceptance. The only limitation is this, that if the 
reader has defects in his speech, such as stuttering, 
mumbling, mispronunciation, or poor articulation, it is 
not enough to have him read naturally in order to read 
correctly, because when he speaks naturally he speaks 
incorrectly. To remedy his natural speech he needs 
sometimes to have exercises given him. 

So with this limitation it makes a fine basic principle. 
The teacher should see that the pupil understands what 
he reads, and should then correct any errors that arise 
in his manner of speech. 

If in vocal reading the pupil reads to an interested 
audience something he appreciates and understands, he 
can cure many errors, a few of which I shall discuss 
briefly. 

Proper Attention to Punctuation Marks. Frequently 
a pupil allows the voice to rise at a period or to drop at 
a question mark, and pays no attention to commas. The 
mechanical method of handling this is for the teacher 
to say, ** John, you did not let your voice fall at that 
period. Read it again and see that it falls.'* The trouble 
with this method is that it is ineffective, since John, if 
he is like other children and most adults, does not know 



132 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

how to make his voice fall or rise, and does not know 
when he tries whether it goes up or down. 

The trouble with John's reading is that he does not 
understand the sentence. If he did, his voice would 
drop naturally without any attention from him. Instead 
of telling John to obey these artificial rules, therefore, 
the teacher should help him to understand what he is 
reading. 

Loud Reading. Frequently as soon as a pupil begins 
to read, he begins to shout. Instead of merely saying, 
" Do not read so loud," the teacher should go to the 
bottom of the trouble. He reads loudly because he has 
forgotten his audience. Say to him, *' Do not try to 
make the blacksmith in the village hear you. Read to 
me here beside you." Then, as he realizes that his audi- 
ence is near, his voice will fall. 

Low-voiced Reading. Exactly similar is the trouble 
with those pupils who read in a voice too low to be heard; 
they have forgotten their audience. An effective rule 
for all speakers to follow is to address the back row of 
the audience. When the speaker does this, his voice 
naturally tries to accommodate itself to that distance. 
Therefore, if a pupil reads in tones too low to be pleas- 
ing, the teacher may place himself in a distant corner 
of the room and have the pupil read to him. 

Calling Words. The practice of stopping before each 
word is due in part to a practice permitted in early 
primary reading where the teacher did not require 
fluent reading, in part to the inability of the reader to 
recognize the words rapidly, and in part to his not 
understanding what he is reading. So far as I know, 
the best plan to follow is to give such a reader, or a 
whole class, if they all call words, some books to read 



READING 133 

that are easy to understand and that contain simple 
words. These selections should be read over and over 
again at a high rate of speed until the pupils have 
learned how to read something without calling words. 

Mumbling. This defect can be helped very materially 
if the reader realizes that he has an audience. If he 
selects something for the pupils to hear read, something 
that he likes, something that they like and that they 
do not know, and if he finds (by the teacher's showing 
it) that they do not understand, he will begin to think 
about his articulation. People mumble when, from 
embarrassment or other causes, they are not tryi^g to 
get other people to understand them. They just talk. 
But if the desire to convince is born, the effort to cure 
the mumbling increases, and the results are close to 
realization. 

Better Expression. One common criticism made by 
teachers after a pupil has read and when it is his busi- 
ness to say something is, " Yes, but see if you can't put 
more expression into it "; or, "Try again, and see if 
you can't do better." Two more silly criticisms cannot 
be found; for the boy cannot put more expression into it 
than he feels inside, and commanding will not make 
him feel more. When he is told to read better, he has no 
idea what to do. Both criticisms are too vague. Better 
by far for the teacher, if he wants better expression, to 
go over the selection again with the reader so that he 
will feel its spirit more, and then, and only then, will he 
put more expression into his reading of it. 

Drills. Drills in reading may be given whenever, 
after a pupil understands the selection, he is still unable 
to express it properly. Sometimes the trouble is with 
pronunciation. When a word is mispronounced, it 



134 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

should be studied as carefully as is necessary to secure 
a correct pronunciation. Such a word as cavalry mis- 
pronounced as calvary has to be syllabicated to be clearly 
understood, and then by constant attention must be 
corrected whenever mispronunciation occurs. It may 
be well to write out such a word as this and to perform 
upon it those habit-producing devices outlined in the 
first chapter on spelling. 

Articulation frequently needs to be practiced. This 
one fault causes more inaudible speaking than any other 
single factor. In curing faulty articulation, exercises are 
valuable. Lists of exercises may be found in many 
places, some of which are given at the end of this chap- 
ter. The pupils themselves will frequently make up drill 
lists. The practice should not be indiscriminate upon all 
consonants, but should deal with those that give most 
trouble. 

Needless to say, the teacher must himself articulate 
clearly. Most teachers do not; but any teacher, without 
physical defects, may, if he take the trouble. This does 
not mean that he must recite a long series of similar 
sounds, but it does mean that he must use care in form- 
ing every word he utters. A good exercise is to take any 
selection one happens to like and syllabicate slowly, 
taking care to hit every consonant hard, slurring none 
and over-emphasizing a bit; if necessary. A speaker 
with a voice so distinct that his whisper can be heard 
one hundred feet secured his skill through the practice 
of distinct enunciation. To overdo the syllabication is 
affected; to slur is slovenly; to speak it neither with 
affectation nor a slur is perfect. 

Summary. Drill should be carried on for the correction of 
mispronunciation, poor enunciation, and other physical and 



READING 135 

mental errors, as the need for it arises. In this connection the 
rules for habit formation as developed in earlier chapters 
should be followed. 



5. The Study of Literature 

In the grades, reading and literature are seldom sepa- 
rated, because literature is usually the material for read- 
ing. Not all the history and geography studied from 
day to day is read in class, but nearly all the literature is. 

In the reading process, literature is connected with 
both silent and oral reading, because, when it is read, 
the pupil has to understand it and feel its spirit. This, 
it seems to me, is the chief problem of the study of 
literature in the grades — how to understand and feel 
the spirit of a selection in literature. 

Problem. One very striking fact about literature is 
that every unit, be it a stanza or a book, is solving some 
problem — answering some question that experience 
has put to the author. For instance, in Longfellow's 
** Psalm of Life," the author is answering the question, 
" Is life an empty dream? " Thus every poem answers, 
or tries to answer, its own question. This is one function, 
perhaps the function of literature; to solve certain prob- 
lems and answer certain questions. 

Now the literary selection contains the answer, and 
either the reader may read it over, not bothering to get 
a definite idea of the answer, or he may try to get a clear 
conception of both the question or problem and its 
solution or answer. For instance, in the " Psalm of 
Life," the reader may read the poem, enjoy it, and when 
through say, " Yes, I guess he 's right. Life is more than 
an empty dream," without being able to give the rea- 
sons for thinking so. Or another more inquisitive reader 



136 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

may in reading search for the answer.' In so doing he 
really outlines the poem, and he finds that Longfellow 
thinks that we live to help others and that we must 
hurry to help them. He finds that the poem is divided 
into about four divisions; namely, stanzas 1 to 3, 
stanzas 4 to 6, stanzas 7 to 8, and stanza 9. Each of 
these makes his answer clearer. The first group states 
his answer boldly, the second group shows the necessity 
for haste, the third group shows how we can help others, 
and the fourth group urges us to action. If the reader 
cared to, he could continue this analysis and make a 
very careful study of each word in the poem and get at 
the author's exact thoughts. 

Now, while the ideas are being discovered, we feel the 
beauty and the emotion expressed. We do not study 
feeling consciously very much in the grades; feeling 
comes like the odor of the bread we buy. We do not go 
out to buy an odor; we want to eat the bread in order to 
live, but the odor is thrown in as an important part. 
And so in literature we get the idea, and the feeling 
clings to it like an aroma. 

Study of Selections. In the study of literature with 
children we may analyze the selection very carefully, 
or we may read it merely fo-r its general impression upon 
us. Some forms need to be handled in one way, and 
some in another. A rather common fault in teaching 
is the tendency to over-analyze selections that are not 
worth such careful analysis. On the other hand, it is 
sometimes advisable to get a very clear idea of the 
content of a poem by careful study. 

Let us take, for instance, such a poem as this : — 

The breaking waves dashed high 
On a stern and rock-bound coast; 



READING 137 

And the woods against a stormy sky 

Their giant branches tossed. 

And the heavy night hung dark 

The hills and waters o'er. 

When a band of exiles moored their bark 

On the wild New England shore. 

It pays here to take time enough to enable the pupils 
to see the mental picture. The first two lines may re- 
quire a good deal of explanation before such a picture 
can be built up. Perhaps some actual pictures will be 
necessary. Verbal descriptions may be in order, and ex- 
planations of the words that are used. Thus, each line 
may have to be taken up word by word, so that when 
the stanza is finished the pupils may see the picture as 
the author saw it. It requires judgment to decide which 
to take up intensively and which to read rapidly and 
hurriedly. 

Summary. Selections may be studied rapidly for thQ 
general impression, or intensively to find out exactly what is 
the author's answer to the questions he has proposed, the 
teacher deciding which is worthy of such care. When inten- 
sive study is advisable, it should be carefully carried on until 
each phrase in the selection is clear and all the pictures are 
definite in the pupils' minds. 

Assignment. The country school, unfortunately, does 
not afford much time for the analysis of literature in 
class, and, consequently, the pupils have to do most of 
the work in the assignment by themselves. 

There are two sorts of assignments to be made. One 
is to read the lesson over and, where dictionaries are in 
use, to look up the words that are not understood. 
Such would be the assignment where only a cursory 
reading of the selection is to be made. In the other case, 
in addition to reading over the passage and looking up 



138 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the meanings of the words not understood, the analysis 
may be helped by a few questions from the teacher. 

In the " Psalm of Life," the pupils will be helped 
greatly by having such questions as the following set 
for them: — 

1. What is Longfellow's answer to the question, "Is life but 
an empty dream?" 

2. How does he prove his answer? 

3. What metaphors and similes does he use? What does each 
mean? 

Supposing that the children are really interested in 
this question, which none, even in the eighth grade 
probably are, the three assignment questions will help, 
for it gives them something more to do than just to read 
the selection over. This device of assignment questions 
is very stimulating and convenient. An ingenious 
teacher can set such questions in both literature and 
history, and will thereby get most enthusiastic work. 

Beauty. Literature is different from mere writing in 
that it obeys the laws of beauty. Literature is informa- 
tion, or an idea, plus beauty. I may say, *' As I stand 
on the seashore and see the waves breaking on the shore, 
I wish that I could express the thoughts that come to 
me." That is the statement of a mere fact. When 
Tennyson says, — 

Break, break, break. 
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea, 

And I would that my tongue could utter 
The thoughts that arise in me, — 

he gives us literature. He adds beauty and gives feeling 
to the bald fact. 

A feeling of beauty is not something that can be com- 
manded. It grows and develops. But the teacher can 
cultivate an appreciation for the beautiful by two ques- 



READING 139 

tions and their variations. (1) What do you like best 
in this selection? and (2) Why? The way to develop 
appreciation is to call attention to it and to give reasons 
for liking a thing. This makes the pupils young critics, 
but, for all that, appreciative ones. The great critic 
asks and answers only those two questions, but he 
answers them profoundly. The child answers them 
simply in his own words. He knows what he likes and 
may try to find out why. 

The teacher may reinforce pupils' likes and dislikes, 
or may modify them by his own opinions in which the 
pupil has confidence. But teachers should not spend 
much time talking about beauty (or feeling). It grows 
best when it is not discussed too much, and when 
standards not too high are set for it. 

Memorizing Poems. It is wise to have pupils memo- 
rize carefully selected poems. The selection should be 
made with care, because only those poems that are of 
interest now and that will be of interest in the years to 
come should be memorized. 

A but little appreciated fact about memorizing poems 
has recently been emphasized. Suppose the selection 
to be memorized is the ** Psalm of Life." This consists 
of thirty-six lines. The usual method of memorizing is 
to learn the first line first and then go on down, thus : — 

Tell me not in mournful numbers. 
Tell me not in mournful numbers. 
Tell me not in mournful numbers,^ 
Life is but an empty dream. 
Life is but an empty dream. 
Tell me not in mournful numbers. 
Life is but an empty dream. 
For the soul is dead that slumbers. 
For the soul is dead that slumbers. 
For the soul is dead that slumbers. 



140 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

And things are not what they seem. 
And things are not what they seem. 
And things are not what they seem. 
For the soul is dead that slumbers. 
And things are not what they seem 
Tell me not in mournful numbers 
Life is but an empty dream. 
For the soul is dead that slumbers. 
And things are not what they seem. 

In this, one important fact has to be borne in mind. 
Since memory is aided by the association of words, the 
best association would be at the end of each line to 
connect the last word with the first word of the next line; 
thus numbers should be connected with Life; dream, 
with For; slumbers, with And; and so on. But that is not 
the connection set up in this illustration. 

By looking at the foregoing repetitions you will find 
that the connections of numbers are numbers-Tell, 
numbers-Telly numbers-Life; and the connections of 
slumbers are, slumbers-For, slumbers-For, slumbers- And, 
slumbers- And. But psychologists make the point that 
the connections numbers-Tell and slumbers-For, hurt 
the memorization by setting up wrong associations. So 
they have suggested memorizing in a way that saves 
the correct connections and actually enables one to 
memorize more rapidly in the end. This is called the 
Whole method, and consists simply in reading the thirty- 
six lines of the " Psalm of Life " over, then reading them 
over again and again and again, until the whole is 
memorized. One would think offhand that this would 
take longer, but it actually takes less time than the 
other. If some lines give particular trouble, they may 
be drilled on in addition. But the process of reading, 
from start to finish, should be continued till all is learned. 

Little children may feel that they are not getting 



READING 141 

anywhere and may prefer the customary Part Meihody 
but the teacher ought to know how to use the Whole 
Method himself and should get the children to use it as 
rapidly as they can be successfully weaned from the 
other. They will soon get used to the temporary dis- 
couragement due to the frequent readings that are 
necessary before any part sticks completely. 

Summary. Care should be taken that nothing be memorized 
that does not seem to have promise of permanent life value to 
the pupils. The Whole Method should be utilized as rapidly 
as the experience and ability of the pupils will permit. 

Course of Study. The teacher in the rural school is 
dependent for the most part upon reading books and 
supplementary material for his course of study. The 
reading books and the supplementary lists are made up 
with a view to providing material that will appeal to the 
children at the various stages of their development. 
These stages, as we have seen, are not clearly marked 
off; and so there must of necessity be much guesswork, 
and no one who outlines a course of study in literature 
can justify his order of selections against all others. But 
many have given thought to it, and their opinions are 
worth consideration. For that reason there are appended 
at the end of this chapter a number of courses of study 
in literature. 

The teacher should use whatever course seems best 
to him, when he has taken into account the peculiar con- 
ditions of his own classes. This selection can be made 
with greater care as he grows in experience and careful- 
ness. 



142 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

6. Class Mechanics 

Position. In general, a pupil while he reads should 
stand squarely on his feet with chin up. He should hold 
his book on his left hand so that his right hand is free to 
assist in various ways. These little facts are of impor- 
tance because they give a position conducive to full 
breathing and to a good general physical tone. A slouch- 
ing position produces correspondingly poor reading. 
This does not mean that pupils should not read aloud 
without standing. Frequently, perhaps, for economy 
of time and effort, they should stay seated. But 
whether the pupil is sitting or standing, slouchiness pro- 
duces lazy reading. 

It is thought wise to have all the class sit with closed 
hooks when one of their number is reading. If one of the 
listeners lets his mind wander from what he has already 
read a dozen times, he should not be disciplined too 
severely. Put yourself in his place and punish according 
as his misdemeanor would surpass your own in a similar 
situation. 

Criticism. It is very embarrassing to readers to be 
followed by an audience that is looking for mistakes. It 
is so disconcerting that readers through nervousness 
often make more errors than they would otherwise. 

Yet one sort of criticism by the class is good. This 
criticism can best be given when the selection read is 
new to all but the reader. It takes one of the follow- 
ing forms: " Did you understand the last sentence, 
class? " or, " Discuss the picture as John (the reader) 
made you see it, Mary "; or, the teacher may say to 
the reader, *' Make the class see the picture as you read 
it to them," and so on. This constructive criticism that 



READING 143 

does not stop with 'negatives is helpful to the reader. 
It must, of course, be friendly, or impersonal at least, 
and never harsh. When given in such a spirit by the 
class it is probably more effective than when given by 
the teacher. 

The little trick of reading the name of the selection 
and the page is out of date. There is only one justifica- 
tion for reading these, and that is to help some careless 
child who has lost his place, to find it again. But since 
every child is supposed to know what is being read, he 
will have his book open, if all use the same text, or will 
have no text, if it is a new selection. So, in any case, 
this formality is unnecessary. 

Alternation. Alternation can be very well undertaken 
after the first two years. First grade and second grade 
classes cannot alternate. But third and fourth, fifth 
and sixth, and seventh and eighth may alternate in 
pairs, because the difference in ability between the two 
will not be great enough to make the class uneven. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Arnold. Reading, How to Teach It, pp. 87-103, 199-221. 

(Study of the lesson.) 
Black. Primary Methods, pp. 25-123. (Course of study.) 
Briggs and Coffman. Reading in Public Schools, pp. 45-91. 

(Primary reading.) 
Clark. How to Teach Reading, 117-27. (Mental attitude of the 

reader.) 
Cox. Literature in the Common Schools, pp. 128-75. (Course of 

study.) 
Haliburton and Smith. Teaching Poetry in the Grades. 

(Illustrative lessons.) 
HuEY. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, pp. 406-18. 

(Standards of print.) 
McMuRRY. Special Method in Reading, pp. 245-81. (Class 

methods.) Pp. 282-301. (Illustrative lessons.) 



144 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

RocHELEAU. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, pp. 232-40. 

(Course of study.) 
Sherman and Reed. Essentials of Teaching Reading, pp. 150- 

65. (Exercises for vocal organs.) 



CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. As symbols, are the German letters easier to read than 
the letter forms we use.^ Which of our letters are too much 
alike for legibility? 

2. Give instances from your own experience in which an 
appreciative audience of one or more made you do your best 
reading, and where an unappreciative audience dampened 
your enthusiasm and affected your reading. 

3. An actor is a reader; what are the standards by which one 
would judge the success of an actor? 

4. Give instances showing the practicability of using the 
impression made by a reader upon the class as a test of good 
reading. How did the teacher find out what this impression 
was? 

5. Give examples of ten selections in readers that describe 
experiences and situations too old for the children who read 
about them to understand. 

6. What would you do with selections that are beyond the 
children ? 

7. Are all poems written about children, poems that chil- 
dren will appreciate? 

8. What is the difference between literature about children 
and literature for children? 

9. Name ten poems about children that commonly appear 
in the grade textbooks that are not suitable for children. 
Explain why in each case. 

10. Take a reader for fourth-grade children. Glance through 
it and classify the selections into the following three groups: 
(1) those assuredly suitable for fourth-grade children, (2) those 
assuredly unsuited to fourth-grade children, and (3) those 
about which you are in doubt. What are the figures? What 
will you do with group 1? With group 3? 

11. Should the rural teacher try to teach gestures? Why? 

12. In what grades do fairy stories seem to belong? Mother 
Goose rhymes? Stories of adventure? 

13. What is the usual age for dime-novel reading? What are 
the good elements in dime novels that make them attractive 
to boys? What are the bad elements? What books have the 



READING 145 

good elements of the dime novel without its bad elements? 
Do boys like them? 

14. If your school board will not give you money for supple- 
mentary reading, what are you going to do about it? 

15. The alphabetic method taught people to read. Why is the 
word method better? Under what conditions is it no better 
than the alphabetic method? 

16. Do you think a primer made up of children's jokes 
would be interesting to them? Give three examples of what 
six-year-old children thought were jokes. 

17. Do you believe that a large amount of reading out of 
many books is necessary to good reading? Why? 

18. Give three examples in which a person speaking natu- 
rally, does not speak effectively. 

19. Give five examples of pupils reading incorrectly because 
they did not understand what they were reading. 



CHAPTER VI 

DRAWING 

1. Suhjed-M alter 

Language and Drawing. The parallel between draw- 
ing and language is very close. In drawing, as in speak- 
ing, the object is to communicate some value to other 
people who, it is expected, will be in some degree inter- 
ested. The traveler draws a diagram to show his com- 
rade through what towns their route will pass. The 
reader says, " This is my idea of the costume the author 
describes," and draws a sketch. The artist sitting by 
the riverside puts the scene on paper, as he sees it and 
feels it, for others to see and feel. Speaker or artist, each 
has a choice of his means of communication. In either 
case, he communicates something that he thinks worth 
while. 

The essential difference between language and draw- 
ing is merely one of the medium through which com- 
munication is carried on. The speaker uses words; the 
artist uses colors, tones, and lines. The words are com- 
bined into essays, novels, poems, plays. The colors, 
tones, lines are combined into landscapes, portraits, 
pieces of genre. And there is further parallel between 
these two modes of expression. For instance, both 
writer and artist follow rules of composition. The artist 
makes an outline; so does the writer. The writer intro- 
duces detail according to rules and standards; so does 
the artist. Where language is literature, and drawing 
is art, the translation of each into experience is likewise 



DRAWING : 147 

parallel. The reader of literature attempts to re-live 
the writer's experience. The observer of a work of art 
tries in like manner to decipher the symbols the artist 
has used to express his idea, so that he may re-live his 
experience with him. And just as we saw in the last 
chapter that each poem solves a problem and satisfies 
a need, so in like manner a picture expresses some cen- 
tral idea which constitutes its meaning. The difference 
is merely one of medium. The process of reading a poem 
is generically the same as that of reading a picture. 

Because of this close relationship between language 
and literature on the one hand and drawing and pictorial 
art on the other, the principles that have been applied 
in the last few chapters will, in the main, apply to the 
teaching of drawing. The differences are largely differ- 
ences due to the fact that we must substitute color, tone, 
and form for words. 

Summary. Drawing parallels both language and literature, 
not only because drawing is a vehicle of expression for the 
artist just as language is a vehicle of expression for the writer, 
but also because the observer of a picture deciphers its sym- 
bols to get at the meaning in it just as the reader deciphers 
the symbols of language in order to re-live the experience of the 
author. 

Function of Drawing. The function of drawing is to 
communicate values through forms and colors to an 
interested audience. As a language it is a vehicle of 
expression. As " literature,*' it is a means of gaining 
experience. For the one who draws, drawing is a means 
of expressing an idea; but for the one who views the 
drawing, it is a means of gaining an idea from the artist. 

Drawing is a better vehicle of expression than language 
in two ways. In the first place, it is more graphic; that 



148 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

is, it shows the meaning more quickly and clearly. The 
newspaper cartoon is an example. In February, 1913, 
the world was shocked and invigorated by the splendid 
heroism of Captain Scott and his companions at the 
South Pole. Many columns of newspaper copy were 
written about their actions, and the diary of the dead 
leader was published and widely read. But a single 
cartoon by McCutcheon in the Chicago *' Tribune " 
expressed more at a glance of the eye than all the pages 
of written matter. All that was shown was a low, level, 
ice-covered plain, a dark sky, an ice-covered shaft from 
whose summit floated a Danish flag and at whose base 
streamed an English ensign, and recumbent in utter 
weariness the bodies of four men whose frames made 
the nuclei of little hummocks of snow which covered 
them. A reader can get nearer to the heart of the news 
in less time by following the cartoons of a good news- 
paper than by reading the editorial columns. What 
holds true for cartoons, holds true for all art — it expresses 
volumes that can be gleaned at one glance of the eye. 

Drawing is a better vehicle because it is more univer- 
sal. " One hundred people see pictures for every one 
who reads a book." G. Stanley Hall says: — 

The American child needs more, not less, pictures. How, 
e.g.. Homer, not to say Virgil, the Greek dramatists, Shake- 
speare, and the great masterpieces, would be vivified by an 
abundance of even cheap reproductions of the best pictures 
with which artists have illustrated classic story! History, too, 
has been visualized, not only by portraits, but by scenes of 
battle, congresses, and other pictorial events which have 
idealized and could give great enhancement of zest to its 
dogged pages. Science, too, cannot have too many illustra- 
tions. Our geographies, especially illustrated as they are now, 
need a great profusion of additional views of mountains, val- 
leys, shores, seas, landscapes, towns, streets, and everything 



DRAWING 149 

else which can be made so vivid as almost to take the place of 
travel. The stereoscope is now so developed that groups of 
scenes and hundreds of binocular pictures of, e.g., Palestine, 
Egypt, India, the Rocky Mountains, etc., give the spectator 
an almost complete sense of being present and of actually 
gazing upon landscapes, cities, or ruins from various points of 
view which are often indicated on the map, one after another, 
so that one knows the point of the compass toward which he 
is looking, etc., until the illusion of actually seeing everything 
is almost complete, and after a careful course of such pictures 
he almost seems to himself to have visited the locality. The 
illusion of depth, perspective, and the isolation of indirect 
vision are the essential factors of this seeming transposition. 
If some time in the future these proxy trips should be supple- 
mented by moving pictures and phonographs, as they are 
sure to be, then the pupils of, e.g., the geography class will 
take ideal trips through foreign lands, see savages, jungles, 
industries, and all kinds of life without leaving the classroom. 



Literature versus Language. Contrary to general 
practice, all leaders in the teaching of drawing in the 
grades lay more stress upon the interpretative part of 
art, that is, upon appreciation of pictures, than upon 
the ability to draw. The reason for this is very evident. 
Everybody will use pictures after he finishes school; 
only a very limited number will ever draw. Conse- 
quently a course in drawing in the grades should be 
much more concerned with getting the children to love 
good pictures than to execute poor ones. Most people 
are so much more facile in using words than colors that 
they seldom resort to the pencil or brush after leaving 
school, while all use pictures at least for decoration. 
Many, however, make use of poor pictures because they 
do not know any better. This is a matter that can be 
easily remedied, if attention is given to it, as we shall 
see in a later section. 



150 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Moreover, many teachers cannot draw and, therefore, 
cannot teach the technique of drawing. Formerly they 
sat supine with folded hands. Now, with this new con- 
ception holding force, this is no longer necessary or 
wise. A teacher with no knowledge of drawing may love 
pictures, and if a teacher enjoys them himself he can 
easily teach his pupils to enjoy them. In doing so, he 
will confer a greater blessing upon them than if he 
taught them to do a little drawing, and failed to excite 
their love for pretty pictures. 

Summary. The function of drawing is to convey values 
through tone, color, and form. As such it is both a language 
and a literature. And of the two, the latter is more important; 
it is vitally important that the outcome of drawing instruc- 
tion be an increased love of good pictures. 

Standards. The standard of drawing instruction 
easily follows from the principles stated above. That 
student is well instructed who can express his ideas 
effectively through this medium, and who can, through 
the same medium, discover with accuracy the ideas of 
others who use it. As stated just above, the latter ability 
is the more important. 

Structure. To express these ideas through drawing, 
we have certain forms, just as in language we have 
words, punctuation marks, grammatical rules, and 
spelling conventions. There are two fields — represen- 
tation and design : the former dealing with the repre- 
sentation of ideas already found in nature, and the latter 
concerned with the creation of new ideas to express expe- 
riences not reproduced from nature. These correspond, 
in a general way, to the forms of language known as 
narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. 

There are also three tools that are used in both 



DRAWING 151 

representation and design. These are tone, color, and 
form. Color is composed of three primary colors — 
red, yellow, and blue. Tone refers to lightness and 
darkness, and form is self-explanatory. That is, to 
express any idea, it is necessary to use some color, to 
give it some shape and a degree of brightness or dullness. 
These correspond to words, letters, and grammar. 

Then, as said above, these are combined according 
to the laws of composition in each jBeld — laws which 
are discussed in any work on art for teachers. 

Each of these rules and items is intended to make the 
technique of art better; and, consequently, the artist 
who wishes to express his ideas faithfully on canvas 
must utilize these, as the case requires, from moment 
to moment. Because of this, the pupil who seeks to 
become an effective artist must be taught all these rules 
and items if his seeking is not to be in vain. 

A serious question is raised, however, about the 
wisdom of teaching much of this to children in the 
grades, because of their immaturity and inability to 
get hold of any rules of technique except the simplest. 
This will be discussed at length under the " Course of 
Study." 

Summary. Drawing is organized in such a way that, by 
following its rules, a student may learn to express himself 
with effectiveness. 

Materials. Many sorts of material may be used; but 
in the grades those commonly utilized are paper, pen- 
cils, crayons, water colors, and brushes. Nearly all art 
teachers recommend these. The paper used is an inex- 
pensive manila, cream-tinted, with colored paper for 
mounting. The pencils are soft, sharpened to a blunt 



152 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

point, and never used for writing, so that they may be 
kept in good condition. Colored crayons may be used 
on paper, and make a substitute for water colors. A box 
with crayons of eight different colors should be used. 
The three-color water-color box should be used, because 
part of the training that comes from color work lies in 
learning to mix tints from the primary colors — red, 
yellow, and blue. An ordinary cheap sable brush is 
satisfactory. 

It is important to note that freehand illustrative and 
memory pictures can be drawn with an ordinary pencil 
on ordinary unruled paper, or even on ruled paper if 
nothing better is available. Sometimes teachers have 
solved the brush problem by using a toothpick and ink 
for black and white work, and others have tied horse 
hair in a bundle and pulled it through a chicken feather 
quill to make a brush. Where there 's a will, there 's 
a way. But a teacher ought not to resort to these prim- 
itive tools without first of all exhausting every means 
available to make the school district buy adequate 
material. As long as teachers make the best of what 
they have without complaining, they will not get the 
best they ought to have. 

Course of Study. The course of study may be arranged 
logically, or the organization may be psychological. 

If it is arranged in the former manner, the elements 
of drawing will follow one another in logical sequence, 
perhaps straight lines first, then circles combined with 
color mixing, then other principles and elements, so 
that, finally, having learned the technique, the children 
may be able to draw something. Upon this plan draw- 
ing was taught in the schools as much as twenty-five 
years ago. 



DRAWING 153 

To-day it is not taught in that way because that is not 
the way in which children learn best. They are not 
greatly interested in lines, curves, and colors. But they 
are intensely interested in drawing where they can use 
it for its intrinsic purpose; they love to draw where the 
drawing expresses some idea of their own. If it is a 
picture of what they think or know, they draw gladly. 
But their lines, colors, and tones are probably very 
faulty. The drawing of children at the beginning is as 
inartistic as their conversation is ungrammatical. So 
the method of teaching drawing is just like the method 
of teaching language. The teacher lets the pupils 
draw, and makes corrections as they are needed. 

In this way there can be no logical order of presenta- 
tion of drawing facts. The order is psychological. 
Drawing facts are introduced as they are needed. The 
children draw to express interesting ideas, and the 
teacher corrects at the psychological moment. 

There are thus two important questions to consider 
in connection with the course of study: (1) What are 
interesting ideas for children to express through draw- 
ing? (2) When, in general, is it wise to introduce certain 
drawing facts? These are the identical questions that 
we had to ask about language and reading; for we found 
there, as here, that the method by which good readers 
and speakers are trained is that of giving them some- 
thing interesting to work upon, and taking care to cor- 
rect their errors intelligently as occasion demands. 

Interesting Subjects. Children are very much inter- 
ested in illustrative drawings. At first the child's efforts 
are mere scribbles which mean nothing and are of use 
only as practice for the muscles, but by the time he 
enters school he draws to represent objects and is bold 



154 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

enough to try anything. He shows the inside and out- 
side of houses at the same time; he portrays the wind, 
God, and angels. Nothing is beyond him. 

This interest in drawing is exactly parallel with 
interest in language. In the case of language children 
chatter and talk volubly; in drawing, they scribble and 
draw interminably. Just as in the case of language, facil- 
ity in drawing comes only with much practice. In draw- 
ing, children in the grades should be given almost 
unlimited opportunity. We usually allow children to 
" draw " by themselves to keep them quiet. Otherwise 
it is looked upon as a waste of time. But it is not. While 
a boy is drawing on his scribbler, he is getting more real 
education than if he were learning to spell phthisis. For 
he is expressing what he feels and sees, and is gaining 
such facility in so doing that if he be given practice 
enough he will eventually rather turn to his pencil to 
sketch an idea than describe it in words. 

While in the primary grades children can do little but 
illustrate ideas, not yet being able to copy objects or to 
design; and while, therefore, nothing but illustration 
can be taught in those grades, illustration should not be 
confined to those alone. I am a firm believer in the plan 
of making it part of every assignment that can be illus- 
trated in every grade. In history the illustrative work 
may consist of a map or a drawing of a costume. In lit- 
erature the class may be asked to illustrate one or two of 
the best points in the story; and if they have'^been illus- 
trating from childhood up, they will be able to do good 
work and to enjoy it. Other subjects might be men- 
tioned in which assignments of this kind may be made. 

This illustrative work, moreover, may be carried on 
by a teacher who himself is unable to teach drawing. 



DRAWING 155 

Faults cannot be corrected to any great extent by such 
a teacher, but some faults correct themselves automat- 
ically. Even faulty expression is better than none; for, 
referring to our analogy with language, just as it is 
better for children to talk ungrammatically in the pres- 
ence of an ungrammatical teacher than not to talk at 
all, so it is better for them to illustrate inartistically 
with a teacher who knows little about drawing than not 
to illustrate or draw at all. 

Nature also provides a great mass of interesting sub- 
jects. Children frequently enjoy drawing animals. They 
enjoy the tracing of leaves, the massing of trees, the 
filling in of landscapes in color. Great lists of these 
subjects can be found in any textbook on drawing. 
Then, too, special occasions provide material for 
drawing. Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, 
Harvest Home, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and May 
Day all produce a strong motive not only for drawing, 
but for other forms of construction work. 

The decoration of the schoolroom is likewise interest- 
ing. In the autumn, leaves, berries, and branches, 
grain and corn may be used; and in their placing around 
the room, upon the walls and in receptacles, much good 
study of design and decoration can be accomplished. 
The hanging of a new picture becomes the occasion for 
the training of taste, and the selection of blackboard 
drawings or stencils produces training in artistic stand- 
ards. 

Summary. The selection of interesting topics for drawing is 
probably the most important step from the point of view of 
gaining interest in the subject. All interesting subjects 
should be canvassed by the teacher in making his selections, 
but especially every opportunity for graphic illustration should 
be seized by the teacher whether he himself can draw or not. 



156 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Technique by Grades. From what I am able to gather, 
psychologists and some art teachers seem to agree upon 
the following points: — 

1. Prior to eight or nine years of age, children can do 
nothing but draw things. They cannot represent, and 
their drawings do not conform closely to fact. They 
often have to explain what their drawings mean. 

2. From eight or nine to ten they begin to represent 
objects. That is, beginning with the third grade they 
can draw from objects. If the teacher sets a leaf in front 
of them, they can produce something that resembles 
a leaf more or less. 

3. From the fourth grade on, but not before the 
fourth grade, systematic study of drawing may be in- 
troduced. Perspective should be delayed considerably, 
except in the most rudimentary form. 

4. Drawing should not be made too difiScult. In the 
fifth and sixth grades pupils become self-conscious about 
their drawings. For the first time they see that their 
work is poor; and if at this time they are given work to 
do that is too difficult for them, they quickly grow dis- 
couraged. Easy problems, then, in the interest of con- 
tinued pleasure in drawing, should be given all the way 
through the grades. 

5. Water-colors, ink, and crayons should be used 
much in preference to the exclusive use of the pencil, 
because they afford practice in the spreading of colors 
and exercise the fundamental muscles. In other words, 
the pupil using them need not rely upon fine muscles 
as he does with the pencil at a time when these muscles 
are not well developed. 

Children are very fond of bright colors, and the 
teacher should not be too severe in his criticism of these; 



DRAWING 157 

for taste in color has to be developed in the child from 
the barbaric colors of childhood to the quiet and more 
effective colors demanded by the good taste of the adult, 
just as taste in colors has developed from the barbaric 
colors of primitive people to the hues permitted by the 
canons of the cultured. 

6. Just as "language is taught as a means of expres- 
sion for necessary and everyday use," and as " a few 
words are taught at a time definitely and thoroughly, 
and continually employed, that they may be made a 
permanent possession of the child," so drawing should 
be taught as an everyday means of expression, and from 
day to day its rules and principles should be taught 
simply and thoroughly and when needed. 

Summary. The rules and principles of drawing should be 
introduced as needed. But the children should not be held 
to too high standards, nor should technique be introduced 
at too early a period. There should be no systematic train- 
ing before the fourth grade, and no representation before the 
second grade. 

Drawing Books. Just as with language books we 
decided not to be their slaves but their masters, and use 
them as seemed best in each class, so with drawing 
books. Some sets of drawing books are too formal, are 
built up on the old-fashioned idea of logical arrange- 
ment, and kill all interest in the subject. In some 
drawing books an attempt has been made to arrange 
the material to suit the interests of the pupils. But as 
we saw in the case of the language books, what suits 
one group might not suit another group; hence the 
teacher has to select from the book as he sees fit. If the 
arrangement of the book seems good, follow it; if not, 
rearrange it. 



158 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

2. Methods of teaching Drawing 
Motive. As we have seen in former chapters, there 
are the usual three possibilities in finding a motive. 
This parallel is particularly close in the case of drawing 
and language. Besides the appeal to generic values in 
drawing, which are not very effective, we may appeal to 
the specific need by giving the children interesting topics 
to illustrate, or reproduce, and then letting the class 
decide whether the execution is effective, and when not 
effective how it can be corrected. This is very well 
illustrated in the following lesson : — 

The children were asked to think how a rooster looks 
when standing and to draw it. This is, presumably, an 
interesting topic. Any child of eight whom I know 
would be glad to draw a rooster standing. Suppose 
these pictures are drawn on the board. The children 
then may look at each, and the teacher may select 
perhaps th^ poorest and have the children analyze it to 
see what is wrong. They will tell that the legs are too far 
forward or too far back, making it seem likely that it 
will topple over. They may discuss other points as to 
the head, the back, or the wings; and as each point is 
discussed, corrections may be made by the pupils, each 
on his own, until a fairly good result has been obtained. 
In connection with the criticisms, a good picture of a 
rooster may be produced as a standard to which to 
refer in case the children have forgotten how a rooster 
looks. Then, when all is done, they may rub out and 
try once more. These results may be left on the board 
as long as other board necessities will permit. Here we 
have a very simple case of teaching. The children are 
interested in the subject. They make mistakes. They 



DRAWING 159 

become conscious of these mistakes. They study how 
to correct them (and here they study the technique of 
drawing, because it is merely a collection of rules 
intended to cure or prevent mistakes), and they do 
correct them to the best of their ability. 

Drill. From time to time, as occasion demands, cer- 
tain parts of the subject need to be drilled upon, and in 
this case the rules for habit formation hold good. First, 
get a clear initial idea of what is to be done; second, 
secure attentive repetition; and third, drill till the action 
becomes automatic. 

3. Study for Appreciation 

What has been said in the foregoing section has refer- 
ence only to drawing as a mode of expression. But more 
important than technique in drawing is artistic appre- 
ciation. For while, as said above, few people continue 
to draw after leaving school and hence have little prac- 
tical use for this ability, everybody is surrounded by 
pictures and by art decoration and architectural proj- 
ects. Everybody enjoys pictures. In the poorest hut 
you will find a few pictures. On the plains, in the 
mountains, in attic rooms and basement hovels the 
searcher will find some sort of decoration. But few 
people enjoy good pictures and good art. Upholstered 
monstrosities, colors that clash, highly colored prints, 
cheap chromos, sentimental catch-pennies deck the 
walls of many lovers of pictures who are not lovers of 
the artistic. This is the problem of the teacher — to get 
pupils to enjoy good pictures and artistic decorations. 

Methods of teaching Appreciation. The methods of 
teaching appreciation may be summed up in two state- 
ments. 



160 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

First, if a teacher wants to get pupils to appreciate 
good pictures, he must choose the pictures carefully. 
Not all artistic pictures are interesting pictures. How 
some people can rave over some of the Old Masters is 
inexplicable, unless they rave because they are told it is 
an Old Master. Probably fifty per cent of all classical 
pictures have no more than historic interest. Conse- 
quently the teacher must not complain if he surrounds 
his pupils with *' good " pictures which get no apprecia- 
tion when he has given no consideration to their sub- 
jects. Pictures that please are likely to be considered 
good. That is one way to tell whether a picture is good 
or bad. But it may please for two reasons : the subject 
may be pleasing, as a group of newsboys or a basket of 
kittens; or, the work may be artistic. It is, of course, 
easy to find a picture whose subject is pleasing, but 
whose workmanship is poor, just as it is to find a piece 
of artistic work with a very uninteresting subject. But 
children cannot distinguish clearly between what 
pleases them in content and what is artistic in form. 
Hence, to get children to love good pictures, the first 
thing necessary is to select from among good pictures 
those that are pleasing. 

This should, as far as possible, be done by the chil- 
dren themselves. Suppose that it is possible to buy a 
dozen of the medium-sized Perry pictures, 6 by 10 inches, 
let us say. In sending for them, the teacher should let 
the children select from the catalogue. These catalogue 
pictures are small, but the children can get from them 
a good idea of the larger ones. It is a very surprising 
thing that if you allow children to make selections from 
a group of good pictures, they will select not only pic- 
tures that are pleasing in subject, but also those that 



DRAWING 161 

are, on the whole, the best from an artistic stand- 
point. 

Good pictures are so cheap now that no school can 
be excused from having many of the very best in 
albums and on the walls. It costs a little to get cheap 
frames. But these the boys can make in manual train- 
ing; or, if not, the pictures may be put into albums made 
from old geographies, or bought for the purpose. The 
whole atmosphere of the schoolroom should breathe the 
aroma of beautiful prints and pictures. 

Second. When a pupil is surrounded by good pictures 
there is a likelihood of his unconsciously absorbing ideals 
from the good, so that the bad comes to displease. But 
examples of bad taste should not be wanting because of 
the value to be had from a comparison of good and bad. 
This can be done, to a certain extent, by the teacher's 
own affirmation, as when he says, " This is a good 
picture," or, ** This is not a good picture." Children get 
their ideals very largely, though not entirely, from the 
opinions of those in whom they have confidence. 

But, in addition, the children may be given problems 
to solve which will necessitate their distinguishing 
between the good and the bad and, therefore, compel 
them to study the two with care. Such problems are 
easy to make. For instance, the teacher might set them 
the problem of finding for a given space such a picture 
as would produce a quiet effect. This would lead the 
pupils to select the quiet from the gaudy. They would 
pass judgment upon all the pictures coming under their 
eyes and would distinguish among them according to 
whether they were gaudy or quiet pictures. The teacher 
could at the same time lead them to affirm and believe 
that the quiet effect was the more pleasing. 



162 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

He could do so, that is, if the proper time for such 
effects in the pupil's life had arrived. For, as said above, 
the taste of children as of the race develops but slowly 
from the barbaric to the cultured. When the children 
are young they will enjoy the gaudy pictures, but by 
patient effort on the part of the teacher, good pictures 
will come to displace the poor ones. 

Often, too, the liking for good pictures will be en- 
hanced if the children are taught the story of the pic- 
ture. To tell imaginative stories about a picture to 
little children heightens their love for it. To pick out 
interesting things in the picture also increases interest. 
The little angels in a Fra Lippo Lippi are often the first 
tie to bind little children to it. 

Picture study is correlated with language study, and 
in this correlation the content of the picture is analyzed. 
For instance, in studying the content of Watts's '* Sir 
Galahad " one composition book deals with it thus: 
It first shows the picture; then it tells the story of King 
Arthur's Knights. It next asks for the meaning of such 
words in the story as bring out the ideas in the picture; 
for instance, courteous, vow, solemn, shrine, fearless, 
gentle, high-spirited, charger, shield, etc. Then follow a 
few questions, asking to what the life of a knight was 
pledged, how he took his vow of knighthood, and so on. 
The armor of the knight and the harness of the horse 
are carefully noted. Nowhere is anything said about 
balance, rhythm, or harmony. The lesson merely gets 
the children interested in Sir Galahad and in love with 
him, so that the atmosphere of this picture, artistically 
good, may be pleasing to them. 

Summary. To get children to appreciate good art it is 
necessary that good pictures with interesting subjects be 



DRAWING 163 

chosen for them, and that they be surrounded with these; 
that studies be made of the subjects; that attention be called 
to good form by having children choose good and bad pictures 
for the solution of some problem in hand; and that the teacher 
strive always to accentuate his preferences for the good. 

Traveling Galleries. County superintendents can well 
foster a plan by which a traveling collection of beautiful 
pictures in frames can go from school to school. In this 
way 100 schools might have 400 pictures in 100 sets of 
4 each, some of which would be duplicates. These could 
be passed from school to school each two months, and 
during the term each school could see and study 16 
pictures — all classics and all interesting to children. 
Or, if the county superintendent has not the oppor- 
tunity to do this, three or four, or even two, neighboring 
schools can exchange pictures, framed or unframed, 
and thus give children access to more pictures than any 
one school can afford. 

^. Class Mechanics 

Alternation. Special drawing classes may begin with 
the fifth grade in the country school, though previous 
to that much illustrative work should be required. But 
in the fifth and sixth grades systematic work may begin. 
The fifth grade may alternate with the sixth, and the 
seventh with the eighth, because they are about equal 
in abilities in each case. The course will be determined 
in great part by the needs of the classes from day to day. 

Correlation. Drawing has its widest use as an illus- 
trative device. It is used in every subject in almost 
every course of study. Language and literature call for 
illustrations; geography for maps, pictures, and dia- 
grams; history, for charts and maps; civics, for charts 



164 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

and graphs; arithmetic, for diagrams and graphs; the 
manual arts, for plans; and so forth. Good teaching 
requires as wide a use of drawing as possible. 

It is particularly useful in the manual arts, where in 
many cases the plan is an absolute essential in carrying 
on a manual project. These plans need not be elaborate, 
but they are necessary. They cannot be made by little 
children, because they require some skill in exact 
measurements and are of real value only where a com- 
plicated project is on hand; and if there is no need of 
them, they should not be attempted. 

The Drawing Class. I do not think it wise for a 
teacher who has not studied drawing under a good 
teacher to try to teach it. He may teach picture appre- 
ciation and may require uncriticized illustrative work, 
but I do not see that he can do much good with a sys- 
tematic course. But if he has had such a course of study, 
the little class details will be quite familiar to him. 
It is because of this fact that I do not give any of the 
details of conducting a class. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Block. Primary Methods, vol. ii, pp. 80-153. (General.) 
Hall. Educational Problems, vol. ii, pp. 548-54. (Value of 

drawing.) 
Kern. Among Country Schools, pp. 85-102. (Schoolroom 

decoration.) 
RocHELEAU. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, vol. ii, pp. 

266-358. (General.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Trace the parallel between language and drawing. In 
what respects are they alike? In what respects different? 

2. Mention five cases in which you illustrated what a thing 
looked like because you could n't describe it clearly. 



DRAWING 165 

3. Under what conditions is drawing a waste of time by 
primary children? 

4. How do you tell whether a picture you like is a good 
picture or not? Is it a sure test? How do people in general 
decide whether a picture is good or not? 

5. Is a picture that is popular a good picture necessarily? 
Who settles the question of a picture's quality? 

6. If you were buying pictures for yourself and you had to 
choose between a good picture you did not like and a poor 
picture you did like, which would you buy? Why? 

7. If you have studied drawing, name ten rules of drawing 
that should be observed. In what order would you teach these 
to an eighth-grade class? 

8. When you were in the first grade, did you enjoy drawing? 
What things? Do you now enjoy drawing? Describe your 
experience in drawing as you remember it, stressing the points 
brought out in the chapter. 

9. Secure three sets of drawing books from the library and 
criticize from the standpoint of difficulty, of interesting sub- 
jects, or arrangements of topics. 

10. What is the best method of securing motive for drawing 
exercises? 

11. Name five points in drawing that need to be drilled 
upon. 

12. What pictures of all you know do you like the best? 
Are the pictures you like on the whole good pictures artistic- 
ally? If so, have you gained this liking naturally, or have you 
been educated to it? 

13. What attitude should one take toward the colored 
Sunday supplement? What is there good in it? What bad? 
How can you get good Sunday supplements? 

14. Name five great pictures that you do not like. 

15. Describe a color scheme and plan for the decorating of 
the classroom in which you are now working. Do you agree 
with the other members of the class? Whose plan is the best? 

16. Take a textbook in reading and, running through ten 
pages of some story in it, pick out five situations that might be 
illustrated. Make one of the illustrations yourself. 

17. What use can be made of a rural schoolhouse in teach- 
ing art appreciation? Describe what you would have the 
children do with some country schoolhouse which you know 
well enough to treat from memory. 



CHAPTER VII 



MUSIC 



; 1. Subject-Matter 

Music and Reading. The most illuminating stand- 
point from which to study methods of teaching music is 
to trace its similarity to reading. For with one or two 
minor exceptions it is exactly similar. 

We saw in the chapter on reading that there were five 
factors in the reading process. First of these is a writer 
with something he wants to say; he has some idea to give 
to the world. Exactly similar is the case in music. A 
musical composer has some feeling to express, some idea 
to present to his public. Beethoven sits in the moonlight 
and is moved to express his feelings in " The Moonlight 
Sonata." Music, like literature, is made to express some 
feeling, some idea, some element of value in the experi- 
ence of the one who writes it. Second is the medium 
through which he expresses his idea. He may use 
sound, or he may represent these sounds on paper by 
means of convenient symbols. He may utilize either the 
spoken word or the written word. In either case he 
follows the rules of grammar and composition in express- 
ing his idea. If he writes his words, he must also pay 
attention to a system of symbols called the alphabet. 
In like manner the musical composer who wishes to 
express his idea in music has two media. He may use 
sound alone; that is, he may sing his feelings or play 
them upon a musical instrument; or he may put them 
on paper. In either case, he follows some very definite 



MUSIC 167 

rules of musical composition, just as definite as the rules 
of English composition. But if he decides to write his 
music, he has to use a musical " alphabet " consisting 
of notes and staffs and clefs. These notes are arranged 
into groups, and the groups in a way express ideas, 
much as sentences do. The parallel here is very close 
between composition of words and composition in music. 
These symbols in music are more difficult to master 
than verbal symbols. This is so because music adds pitch 
to the verbal alphabet. In the verbal alphabet 6 is 6 
wherever it is seen, and c is quite different in sound 
from it. Do as a spoken word sounds quite different 
from re. But as music, it not only sounds different in 
vocalization, but there is also a difference in pitch. Do 
is do at one pitch, and re is re; but re is also an interval 
higher than do in tone. Then, too, the written notes do 

not always mean the same. In this case 



~s one 



learns that the notation stands for a certain tone called 
h natura l, let us say; but by a slight change, thus, 

^=^, it is no longer h natural, but h flat, a half-tone 



lower. In verbal symbols the vowels have a few differ- 
ent sounds, and a few consonants, such as c, g, and s 
have two or more variations. At most, however, there 
are only a few of these in comparison with all the tones 
in music. The task of mastering the symbols of music 
is, therefore, rather complicated. This is particularly 
true of those people who do not have a fine sense for 
tone. For one may know do from re as spoken, but may 
not be able to place do at one pitch and separate it 
from re with one interval between. Such people are 
called monotones. The number of those who can never 



168 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

distinguish one tone from another in pitch is very small. 
Most monotones fail to distinguish the pitch of notes 
merely because of lack of training. 

The third factor in the reading process is a reader who 
has to decipher the symbols, interpret their meaning, 
and get into the experience of the author, so that he may 
think his thoughts and feel his feelings with him. In 
music we have again a similar situation. The music 
reader has to decipher his symbols, interpret their 
meaning, and get into the experience of the writer, so 
that he may think his thoughts and feel his feelings 
with him. 

In reading, the fourth factor is a vocal mechanism 
composed of such organs as tongue, palate, teeth, lips, 
vocal cords, lungs, and diaphragm. In singing (and it 
is of this alone that I shall speak), exactly the same 
organs are used, in a slightly different way, in so far as 
pitch enters into the musical expression. 

Finally, there is an audience whose mental state the 
reader hopes to bring into accord with his own and that 
of the writer. The reader tries to make his audience feel 
what he and the writer already feel. Here, again, the 
parallel is so exact as not to need elaboration; for the 
singer tries to make his audience feel what he believes 
the composer felt. 

Summary. There are three important things to observe in 
teaching music. These are, first, a set of symbols to be mas- 
tered; second, a vocal mechanism to be brought under control; 
third, a musical reader or interpreter who will try to get at 
the meaning of the composer and will then interpret it to an 
audience. 

Function of Music Reading and Composition. Music 
is a language with symbols of its own. As composition 



MUSIC 169 

it expresses valuable experiences through tones and their 
symbols. As oral composition, it expresses these experi- 
ences in tones; as written composition, it puts them 
upon paper by means of certain symbols. As silent read- 
ing it interprets these symbols for the reader; as oral 
reading, it gives the interpretation to an audience. Such 
are the functions of the different phases of musical 
expression. Of all these, two need to stand out in the 
school. 

An effort should be made to teach children to read 
musical notation, and if this effort is continued consist- 
ently, there is every chance of its being successful. But, 
of more importance is the development of the love for 
good music. The parallel of this to drawing is evident, 
since one of our chief purposes in teaching drawing in 
the schools is to develop a love of good pictures and 
tasteful decoration. Under the head of drawing, it was 
pointed out that after the pupils leave school they make 
little use of their ability to draw or paint. In music this 
is not so often the case; for if the notation is learned, 
adults get much pleasure from it all through life. Never- 
theless, it is still true that emphasis should be placed 
upon the love of good music, rather than upon skill in 
reading notes. 

This means that piano players with a good library of 
rolls should be used whenever possible. If a country 
school can afford a piano, and many can, it should be 
furnished with the player and as many rolls as can be 
purchased. To get the best results, these rolls should be 
selected by children, either the children in the school 
concerned, or by other children. So, also, there can well 
be a traveling library of music rolls, through which dif- 
ferent schools may exchange with each other. 



170 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

But when the piano player and the piano are too ex- 
pensive it will still be possible for the school to secure a 
phonograph. An objection may be made that it will be 
damaged in the school; but it can easily be kept under 
lock and key from thieves at night, and in the daytime 
its use can be regulated by the teacher. This phono- 
graph, together with a number of the best songs, may be 
purchased at a very reasonable price. Here, again, the 
children should decide which among the best they prefer. 
There is more danger in selecting from phonograph ma- 
terial than from pictures such as the Perry series or the 
Brown, because the pictures have been selected with 
greater care than the phonograph music. But a little 
reasonable care will eliminate poor songs before the pu- 
pils get a chance to select them. 

This effort to develop love for music in school lays 
emphasis upon note singing. Many people enjoy sing- 
ing who have no ability to read music. So while we 
teach boys and girls to read music, we should not leave 
them to their own efforts in applying this ability to sing- 
ing songs. If they acquire sufficient skill to read, and 
thus to learn music for themselves, we should be satis- 
fied; but while they are getting that ability, and in case 
they do not get it, they should be learning songs all the 
time by ear. The necessity for this is clearer if we refer 
to our parallel with language and reading. For our pur- 
pose in school is not merely to teach children to gain 
knowledge for themselves by reading. Teachers tell them 
things; they are told things outside of school; and they 
rej)eat these things to others before they know how to 
read. They can do it if they never learn to read. And 
in an exactly similar way children should be ''told" 
songs; that is, they should be taught them by ear and 



MUSIC 171 

should repeat them by rote before they know how to 
read mii^ic, or even if they never learn to read. Not to 
be able to read words is a great calamity, because there 
is so much to learn that can be found only in print. The 
number of musical selections, however, is much smaller 
and may be had by depending upon musical " word of 
mouth." Of course it is preferable that children be able 
to read music, but it is very important that they learn 
many good songs by rote. 

Summary. The aim of music teaching in the grades is 
primarily to develop a love for good music; secondly, to develop 
an ability to sing good music; and, thirdly, in a smaller degree, 
and as a means to the first and second, to develop the ability 
to read music. 

Standard. In brief, the standard by which to judge 
school music is exemplified in a room full of children 
who love to sing beautiful songs, and are able to sing 
them with good expression and by note. A class that 
sings by rote is scored high if it loves its songs and sings 
them with expression. A class that sings by note and 
that loves its songs is graded higher than one that loves 
its songs and sings only by rote. A class that loves 
music, but shouts or sings shrilly, thus not using good 
expression, is not graded so high as one that sings sweetly 
and with good expression. 

The Course of Study. The term music, as used in the 
schools, is very broad and includes, at least, music read- 
ing, music writing, music composition, and music litera- 
ture. But we shall concern ourselves here chiefly with 
music reading and music composition; and of these two, 
most stress will be put upon the former. 

The course in music reading corresponds in a general 
way with that in verbal reading in that in both there are 



172 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

primary reading and advanced reading. In the former, 
the pupils learn the symbols, and in the latter they de- 
vote their attention to the more facile use of these sym- 
bols. Primary reading in music is much harder than in 
verbal reading, for reasons already given; and practi- 
cally the whole of the eight grades are necessary before 
the rudiments are learned so that a pupil may read 
music with as great facility as third-grade pupils read 
words. Consequently, so far as the grades are con- 
cerned, music reading is essentially primary reading. 

The elements of the reading symbols are the notes, 
the staff, the clefs, and the keys. These are the mechan- 
ics of notation corresponding to the alphabet, spell- 
ing, and writing, Melody — with scale, intervals, tone, 
pitch, rhythm — is an element entering into primary 
music reading. 

In general, it seems that at present music teaching has 
not advanced beyond the alphabetic method. What I 
mean can be made clear by reference again to reading. 
In teaching reading we begin with interesting words 
and after a while study phonics and letters. In music 
" snatches " or phrases probably correspond to words 
in a rough way; but only a few teachers begin the 
study of music reading with these written on the 
board. We begin with single notes, or musical " let- 
ters,'* and from these run the scale. We then take 
different intervals and different keys, and so on to 
the reading of selections. 

The " sentence " method has been developed by 
Farnsworth, a reference to whose work is given at the 
end of the chapter. But it has not yet percolated into 
the methods of the rank and file. 

There is no accepted statement about the course of 



MUSIC 173 

study in technical music. And this need not be a matter 
of great concern; for teachers who cannot sing will not 
teach it, and those who are trained will use their own 
system. The same principles for trained singers apply 
here as in other subjects. That is, the teacher should 
use the adopted text with judgment, omitting and add- 
ing as seems best in the light of his knowledge of the 
needs and ability of his pupils. 

In all grades the voices of the children should be light 
in quality, smooth, and free from harshness. All singing 
should be intelligent, with good phrasing and proper 
attention to the sentiment of the words. It should be 
remembered ^that good singing is one aim of music in 
the schools; and that love of song, and the desire to ex- 
press one's self in song, should result from the study. 

Music Books. Music books may be followed if the 
teacher takes the same care in using them that he takes 
in using every other textbook. That is, as in literature, 
songs not interesting should be omitted; work too diffi- 
cult should be taken up after other work less difficult; 
and supplementary songs may be introduced. It is a 
matter of great regret that many music books do not 
insert more of the songs that appeal to boys and girls. 
One of the reasons why seventh and eighth-grade pupils 
affect to despise music is because the songs they are 
taught are often of the " Little birdie in a tree, sing 
your pretty song to me " type. The careful selection of 
good stirring music will do much to hold their interest 
and make them proud of singing, rather than self-con- 
scious about it. 



174 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

S. Motive 

Here again the parallel between reading and music 
will furnish us with our method. The first essential in 
getting a motive for silent or oral reading is to have ma- 
terial that is of value. Likewise, the first essential in 
getting interest in music reading is to have songs whose 
content is interesting to pupils. Music teachers fre- 
quently do not have songs as virile as they should be for 
boys, or as grown-up in sentiment as the case demands. 
Very often the songs are manufactured for use as class 
exercises, the bass, tenor, or alto having been simplified 
in order that it may be read easily by young pupils; 
and this simplification is often made at the expense of 
variety. 

Some teachers say that children get tired of rote sing- 
ing without technical instruction. But the only reason 
for that is the lack of interesting songs. Children never 
grow tired of singing songs they enjoy. In every grade 
there should be much rote work — singing just for fun. 
It is better to keep up the interest in work with rote sing- 
ing and to proceed no faster than is convenient in teach- 
ing the technique, because rote singing with interest is 
much better than note singing without love of music. 
If one drives children into the technique too fast, the 
children lose their love for the subject and never gain 
the ability to read by note. So, from every point of 
view, it pays to go slowly — to saunter through the 
technique. 

An interested audience helps in this way. If children 
are allowed individually or in groups to learn good songs 
at home and bring them to school to sing to the other 
boys and girls who do not know the songs, much interest 



MUSIC 175 

is aroused. A new and catchy air that is musically good 
is well worth introducing to the class. The pupil bring- 
ing such a song may be allowed to teach it to the class, 
words and all, either in school, or before or after school 
hours. This gives a genuine interest to song singing and 
song learning. Incidentally it uncovers wells of inter- 
est in music of which frequently the teacher has never 
dreamed. 

Chorus work may be fostered to the great advantage 
of interest. All the children may carry the melody, 
or they may sing the different parts, as they are able. 
Groups of half a dozen or less may work together and 
get their voices in unison. When this has been done, the 
pupils may do choral and festival work in the commun- 
ity, if the teacher is able to conduct it. Musical festival 
programs need not be performed by finished artists. 
The chief pleasure to be got out of them may be per- 
sonal and not artistic. Even when the teacher cannot 
lead this work himself, he may act as business manager 
and induce some local singer to do the leading. The 
great objective point is not technique or artistic finish, 
but fun — happiness in singing and in expressing one's 
self through music. 

Correlation. Interest comes also through correlation, 
and correlation may be much wider than one is inclined 
at first to think. For instance, in connection with geog- 
raphy there is an almost inexhaustible mine of material 
in the songs of the countries and nations studied. Surely 
there is no time lost in learning the best of the folk songs 
or national anthems, because they express in a very sub- 
tle and effective way characteristics of the country that 
cannot be had from books. So, also, music is closely 
related to history. In America " The Star Spangled 



176 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Banner," " Dixie," and " Yankee Doodle " have each 
an illuminating effect upon the study of certain events 
in history. In literature, the connection is still closer. 
If the music to a poem is good, it should be taught with 
the poem. Is there anything wrong in teaching the 
music to a poem as part of the literature lesson? As- 
suredly not, since the music often lends an inestimable 
charm to the poetry and heightens the literary effect. 

Summary. Interest in music comes through the selection of 
interesting songs, and in a slow and thorough sauntering 
through technique. This may be heightened by the use of 
special occasions, chorus work, correlation and the providing 
of opportunities for children or groups of children to learn 
songs to sing before the rest of the class. 

3. Learning to read and compose 
Reading Music. The order usually followed in learn- 
ing the symbols of music is the following : First, the chil- 
dren sing by rote until they become acquainted with a 
large number of songs. The selection of these songs we 
have already discussed. They must be both good and 
interesting to the children. Second, children who are 
monotones should be trained to sing in unison. This 
can best be done by having all the class unite in sound- 
ing a single note and practicing upon this as a beginning 
until the monotones are able to sing in unison. Seldom 
are they physically defective. Practice will usually re- 
move the difficulty. Third, the scale may be learned as 
a melody and may be sung in different keys and both 
up and down. Parts of tunes may be given to see if the 
pupils recognize them, or to have pupils finish them. 
Then, fourth, the notation may be taught. And, fifth, 
after the notation has been taught, reading may begin. 
In the fourth and fifth steps we have the greatest 



MUSIC 177 



difficulty because of the complexity of the notation. 
Here specific methods cannot be given. In general, what 
has to be done is to train the pupils so that when they 

see such a note as M^^ they will be able to asso- 



ciate it with a sound "in their heads." That is the 
whole sum and substance of the matter. There is no 
reasoning about this connection. It is entirely a matter 
of drill. 

Drill. The rules for making such connections have 
been discussed in every chapter. The teacher has, jirsty 
to give the pupils a clear initial picture; and, second^ 
to continue attentive repetition until the connection is 
automatic — that is, until whenever they see a note on 
a page they can hear the sound in their heads. The im- 
portant point is that what is taught should be made 
automatic. 

Expression. With children expression comes natur- 
ally, as in reading. If a child does not feel anything, he 
will express no feeling. Children often have voices that 
are harsh, nasal, or cracked. To these the rule applies 
— to make sweet voices, select sweet songs and get the 
children to feel their sweetness. If they really feel the 
sweetness of a slumber song, they will sing it like a slum- 
ber song. If, when they feel the spirit of a song, they 
still have defects in their singing, these should be cured, 
as in reading, by exercises in enunciating, breathing, 
and phrasing. The parallel holds exactly. 

Musical Composition. It may never have occurred to 
you that while a study of English includes a study of 
composition and would not be complete without it, 
musical composition is not taught in the grades. Music 
study consists almost entirely of reading. If this were 



178 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the case in English work, we should feel that the work 
was very one-sided. 

It never occurred to me until I was grown up that 
when a boy I had used music as I had used words, as a 
means of expression. I well remember making up tunes 
to which to sing words. Sometimes these were very 
pathetic tunes intended to be in keeping with sorrowful 
words, such as the dying expressions of a great hero. 
Sometimes they were light and joyful. If, however, any- 
body had preserved those tunes, I am quite certain from 
what I know of my musical ability at a later time, that 
they would be found to be unmelodious, sung in several 
different keys in the same selection, and guilty of the 
violation of many musical laws. 

But this is no argument against the exercise. We 
allow children to use words, even though they break 
rules of grammar, composition, or pronunciation. We 
are anxious to have them use language, because it trains 
in facility of thought and of expression. All children 
sing " tunes " — often very badly, to be sure, but often 
just as musically bright as the language they use is 
grammatically quaint. All that is necessary in order 
to treat these musical compositions like written lan- 
guage is a teacher who can write down a tune when he 
hears it sung. It is not uncommon for trained musicians 
to be able to pick out a tune and write it on paper. If a 
person has had training enough to do this, he probably 
knows enough about musical composition to know how 
to correct errors, and hence he can with great interest 
to himself and profit to the pupils encourage them to 
make up tunes which he writes down as they sing. These 
will not be great tunes. But we do not condemn a verbal 
composition because it is not so great as a paragraph 



MUSIC 179 

from Emerson; nor should we condemn a musical com- 
position because it is not the equal of one of Schubert's. 
Nevertheless, the pupils sometimes do very creditable 
work, as the following instance will show. This lesson 
was prepared under the direction of Mrs. Mary Root 
Kern, under conditions stated in the quotation : ^ — 

Illustrative Lesson. A stenographic report of the process of 
writing the text for a song by a group eleven years of age is 
an illustration of the method of procedure. 

The following three lines had been made the week before: — 

The icicles hang from the windows high. 
And the wind goes shrieking and howling by; 
The bright moonlight shines down on the snow. 

Some one wanted an adjective for snow and suggested "glit- 
tering," which was objected to on account of rhythm. 
And one little rabbit goes jumping below 

was suggested for the last line. Some of the children objected 
to having the rabbit, saying that it was such a cold night, he 
would not be out, and suggested instead : — 

And hunters through the woods do go. 

Another child suggested that the hunters would not be out at 
night; another insisted that that would be just the time they 
would be returning from a deer hunt. Some one wanted : — 
And hunters walking about below. 

Another suggested substituting "Indians" for "hunters." 
Another suggestion was: — 

No flowers are blooming down below. 

From time to time the teacher re-read the lines, so that they 
could get the rhythm; and, after a while, none of the lines sug- 
gested after the first being regarded as equal to the first, they 
went back to that. "Little," "lonely," "hopping," and 
"father" were suggested as describing the rabbit. "Lonely" 

1 The lesson and the music, quoted from the Elementary School 
Record, are here reproduced by the kind permission of the Chicago 
University Press. 



180 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

was finally accepted as best suited to the verse. "Hunting" 
was substituted for "jumping," as more suggestive, and the 
line as finally accepted read : — 

And one lonely rabbit goes hunting below. 

The teacher suggested that, as the first verse was about 
night, the second be about the day. 

Some of the children wanted a chorus. The teacher sug- 
gested that this was not a jolly song, so that it did not lend 
itself easily to a chorus; but if one appropriate could be 
thought up, it could be used. None could be thought of at the 
time, so the second verse was begun. 

The first line suggested was: — 

As the day grows near and the night grows far, 

** Comes," and finally "draws" was suggested in place of 
"grows," and "passes" in place of "grows far." "Passes 
away " was objected to on account of the number of syllables. 
The teacher suggested that, as they were going from a night 
verse to a day verse, it would be well to put the night idea first. 
It was then given : — 

As the night disappears and the day draws near. 

The next line was at once suggested : — 

Again the cheerful birds we hear. 

The next two lines were suggested as: — 

Jumping about on the fleecy snow. 
Hopping around do the snowbirds go. 

One of the children suggested that the snowbirds are about a 
house, and she wanted the song about a lonely place on the 
mountains. The last two lines were objected to on the ground 
that birds had just been mentioned. The child who proposed 
the line said she was simply telling what the birds did. Then 
this was opposed on the ground that in the first verse the 
rabbit had been doing about the same thing. 

The teacher suggested that they refer again to the rabbit 
and tell what became of him in the day. 

And the same little rabbit goes hopping away. 
For he 's found something to feed him that day. 



A WINTER SONG 



1. The i - ci - cles hang from the win - dows high. And the 

2. As the night dis - ap- pears and the day draws near A - 



tJ^ ■ £.?'%^%^^ 



wind goes shrieking and howHng by ; The bright moonlight shines 
gam the cheer - ful birds we hear; And the little grey rab-bit goes 




down on the snow, And one lone -ly rab-bit goes hunt-ing be -low. 
hop-ping a -way.With something to eat for the rest of the day.' 




182 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

was suggested. "Same" was objected to, "little" suggested 
in its place, and finally "gray" accepted. "For" objected to, 
and "because" rejected, and finally "with" accepted. One 
of the children wanted to suggest "manger** for "to eat,'* 
saying that French words were often used in a song. 
The whole song as finally accepted read : — 

The icicles hang from the windows high. 
And the wind goes shrieking and howling by; 
The bright moonlight shines down on the snow. 
And one lonely rabbit goes hunting below. 

As the night disappears and the day draws near. 
Again the cheerful birds we hear; 
And the little gray rabbit goes hopping away 
With something to eat for the rest of the day. 

The melody of this song was given without criticism by 
the four members of the group present, one musical phrase 
from each child in succession, so that text and song were 
completed in two half-hour periods. The smaller the group, 
the less confusion arises from various phrases being given at 
the same time. To avoid this confusion it was at first at- 
tempted to give each child in turn an opportunity to offer a 
phrase, with the result that none were offered. The work 
cannot be done under formal restrictions. 

Conclusion. The foregoing work on musical composi- 
tion is given as an ideal toward which a few musically 
gifted teachers may work. It is not intended that many 
teachers should teach musical composition, because not 
many can; but those who cannot, will, I am sure, be in- 
terested to see what startling results may be accom- 
plished by the application of methods of teaching lan- 
guage to the teaching of music. 

^. Class Mechanics 
Order of Exercises. The recitation should begin with 
rote songs, proceed to a drill upon special faults — per- 
haps those arising in the rote singing, continue with a 



MUSIC 183 

study of new points, and close with sight singing. This 
order may vary from day to day. But the important 
point is that there should be more singing than talk 
about notation and other facts. 

Absolute attention is necessary to the study of drill 
exercises and new work, because music is so much a 
matter of drill, and drill depends upon attentive repe- 
tition. The singing by rote may be a relaxation. 

There should be monitors whose duty it is to pass the 
singing-books back and forth. Classes may sit rather 
than stand. The music period affords a good opportu- 
nity for the raising of windows, especially if the children 
may march around the room and sing at the same time. 

Suppose you cannot sing ? If a teacher cannot sing, he 
cannot, of course, give any training in musical technique. 
But under certain circumstances he can give the chil- 
dren opportunity to sing. All that he needs is to have a 
pupil or two who can lead singing. These pupils do not 
need to be able to read music, so long as they confine the 
singing to tunes they know. Or, a patron in the district 
is often willing to give instruction once or twice a week, 
at which times new songs can be taught. Certainly a 
phonograph can be secured as easily by one who does 
not sing as by one who does. 

Alternation. It is suggested that all children sing to- 
gether; and that when a book is used, each fourth exer- 
cise be studied each year. The first, fifth, ninth, etc., the 
first year, and the second, sixth, tenth, etc., the second 
year. This will take the whole class through the book 
once in four years. And since there is much to learn in 
the way of technique and but a short time in which to 
learn it, the repetition for the second four years will 
probably not be felt to any great extent. 



184 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 



REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Black. Primary Methods, vol. ii, pp. 211-32. (Singing in the 

primary grades.) 
Farnsworth, C. H. Teachers College Record, January, 1903, 

pp. 25-57. (Teaching notes in elementary school.) 
Hall, G. S. Educational Problems, vol. i, pp. 113-23. 
Kern, M. R. Elementary School Record, no. 2, pp. 33-48. 

(Song composition.) 
RocHELEAU. Intermediate Grammar Methods, pp. 387-410. 

(Advanced singing.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. How many different sounds does the dictionary give the 
vowel a in speech? 

2. How many different sounds are given to the note do in 
singing? 

3. Have you ever seen the piano player used in schools? 
The phonograph? Describe the plan and results. 

4. If you found that the pupils who loved singing sang 
loudly but could not keep the tune, what would you do? 

5. Do you in church enjoy the congregational singing more 
than you do the sermon? Do any of your friends? 

6. Take three sets of music books and compare the order of 
subjects in their courses of study. 

7. Have some one among your friends, who is able to do so, 
write out some songs after hearing them sung. 

8. What do you need to prepare yourself to teach musical 
composition? 

9. How would you secure rapid reading? Compare your 
answer with the same question as to verbal reading. 

10. What are five of your favorite songs? 

11. Describe plans other than those mentioned in the text 
for using an interested audience to secure interested singing. 

12. Is an orchestra practicable in the country school that 
you teach? Why? 

13. Describe the plans by which a musical festival was car- 
ried on in any country community where you have seen one. 

14. Mention ten cases of good correlation of music with 
poems studied as great poems, not merely words for music. 

15. Correlate music with agriculture. Did you ever notice 
the large number of poems of which agriculture is the subject? 
It is striking. Name a dozen such poems. 



CHAPTER VIII 

HANDICRAFTS 

1. Subject- Matter 

Point of View. Within the last generation, which has 
witnessed the introduction of so much that is new and 
valuable in educational theory and practice, nothing has 
been introduced or has had such far-reaching effects as 
the emphasizing of constructive activities in school. 
Outside of school it was recognized by everybody that 
children were always doing something. But these things 
they did not with assistance, but in spite of instructions 
and commands. Now, however, it is recognized in 
school that children think not only with words, but with 
their fingers, and that many a boy thinks more clearly 
with his hands in pottery or basketry or bench work 
than he does with words in geography or grammar or 
arithmetic. It is often found that a boy who has trouble 
with geometry on paper gets a fine hold upon it when it 
is illustrated in a machine or a section of lumber. Then, 
too, it is found that the muscular exercise of the hands 
and arms in handwork is just exactly the kind that is 
best for the muscles of boys and girls. 

Little of this work with the hands produces anything 
that is of practical value to adults. It is not well enough 
done usually to be utilized; or perhaps I should say that 
even if it were so well done, its usefulness would not be 
the reason for studying the handicrafts. For years this 
was the great objection urged against it. But this is 
mostly overcome now, except where parents are not yet 



186 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

used to it. The real reason for its use is that it gives 
boys and girls a kind of exercise, both muscular and 
mental, that they need badly at the time when they 
crave manual work — muscular training and thinking 
with the hands instead of with words only. 

That one can think with things and not with words is 
shown whenever we work with tools and methods of 
which we do not know the names. Thousands of people 
are of this sort. Show them the thing in concrete and 
they will understand at once. Describe it in words, or 
have them think the same thing in words, and they at 
once become confused. 

Summary. Educators have recently appreciated the con- 
structive instinct, and are now attempting to give it the 
intelligent and abundant exercise it ought to have. This is 
done in the grades through what is called the handicrafts. 

The Handicrafts. This term is very indefinite in its 
content. It includes weaving, clay modeling, paper 
cutting and folding, whittling, sewing and cooking, 
rafiia work, basketry, and mat making, work on wood 
with hammer and saw, etc. It must be remembered 
that all this work has come into the schools within the 
last twenty years, and that no one is sure yet what 
should be included and what left out. Indeed, it is to be 
hoped that the schools will not restrict the use of this 
material, except where it is found to be unsuitable, and 
that instead of systematizing it, they will allow much 
freedom and latitude in the choice of material. 

In this chapter it is not possible for us to treat all of 
these subjects in detail. In many books on them, some 
of which are mentioned at the end of this chapter, will 
be found statements of material that can be used and 



HANDICRAFTS 187 

processes that can be carried on in the school. We shall 
take the opportunity, in lieu of a detailed discussion, to 
examine a few principles of general applicability in the 
teaching of these subjects, particularly as it may be done 
in one-room rural schools. 

Functions. The function of each of the items included 
in handicrafts is different from that of the others. The 
function of weaving is to join material by interlacing. 
The function of bench work is to make articles out of 
wood. The function of basketry is to make baskets. 
These are the reasons for their continued existence. 

In school, while the pupils see the functions of each as 
just stated and use the subject-matter for its essential 
purpose, and while the teacher sees the same purpose 
and helps the pupils to realize it, he sees in it also three 
other uses of which the child is not aware. Two of these 
we have mentioned. First, it provides a training for the 
muscles involved; second, it gives a good basis for con- 
crete thinking; and third, which was not mentioned 
above, it gives pupils an opportunity to understand 
something of the industry that lies behind it. For in- 
stance, grinding wheat with stones and with the mor- 
tar and pestle, as the primitive peoples do, gives a fine 
introduction to a further study of the milling industry. 
To go into a flour mill mystifies a child because he can- 
not understand all the process of manufacture; but if he 
has ground wheat himself in these elementary ways and 
knows that that is the fundamental part of milling, he is 
prepared to study the refinements of the modern mill, 
since all the complexity he finds there is the result of 
efforts to make this grinding more perfect. This latter 
indirect function of the handicrafts should always be 
borne in mind by the teachers. For in this day of high 



188 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

specialization, children do not get a knowledge of the in- 
dustries. City people buy their bread from a baker, their 
shoes from a shoe store, and most of their clothes ready- 
made; and the city child does not get the opportunity his 
grandfather had of seeing bread made, shoes manufac- 
tured, and cloth woven in his father's home. The country 
boy sees one great industry and becomes acquainted 
with it in some detail. But agriculture is about the only 
occupation that he does see, and so he ought to be given 
in school some understanding and appreciation of the 
other industries. Geography, of course, gives some ac- 
count of them; but the handicrafts will give him a chance 
not only to see how they work, but also to carry on 
for himself the actual process in a simple, elementary 
way. 

There are really two ways of teaching any branch 
of handicraft. Weaving, for instance, may be studied 
merely as a method of putting things together, and the 
children will in a short time gain considerable skill in the 
process. This is the narrow way of teaching the sub- 
ject. On the other hand, if a teacher wishes to make a 
cultural subject out of weaving, he will be sure that the 
children get what the narrow teacher would give them, 
but in addition he will supplement their work by a study 
of looms in the neighborhood; pictures of Indian weav- 
ings of wool and grasses; and descriptions of great weav- 
ing mills, or, if possible, visits to them. The ability to 
make little mats and hammocks is desirable as far as it 
goes, but it represents only a fraction of the benefit that 
can be secured from weaving when the cultural element 
is added. 

Summary. The intrinsic function of each of the different 
forms of handicrafts is to make articles by distinctive methods. 



HANDICRAFTS 189 

such as weaving, carpentry, or clay modeling. The teacher 
should be sure to have in mind, in addition, that indirect 
value of the work which comes from making it a means for 
understanding and appreciating great modern industries. 

Course of Study. Each of the processes involved in 
the handicrafts group has a different purpose and, of 
course, has its own structure or way of doing its work. 
There is in weaving a technique connected with the 
combining of the warp and the woof, and the making of 
appropriate designs. Sewing has its different stitches, 
and cooking its baking and mixing processes. 

Because of their number and simplicity I shall not 
consider them in detail. Our discussion will deal only 
with the question of arrangement of topics. 

There has been in the handicrafts, as in all other sub- 
jects, an effort to have both a logical and a psychologi- 
cal arrangement of material. The Russian system, for 
instance, which was the early form of bench work in 
this country, began with exercises in joint making, saw- 
ing, turning, and so forth; and after these had been mas- 
tered, the pupil was allowed to make some article in- 
volving these. This, the reader sees, is exactly parallel 
with the old alphabetic method, in which the elements 
— the letters — were taught first, and later were com- 
bined into words. 

More recently a new school has arisen which takes 
the view that we should start the children to making 
useful or interesting things and, as occasion arises, teach 
them how to make a joint, plane a board, or saw a plank. 
In this way, the processes will be taught as they are 
needed. This gives what we have called a psychological 
organization of subject-matter. And with this point of 
view, I am in accord. 



190 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Boiled down to its simplest terms, the way to teach 
handicrafts in rural schools is to let the boys and girls 
make some things that they want to make, and to help 
them by teaching them the tricks of joint making, sew- 
ing, or weaving, as need for these processes arises. The 
problems they select should not be too ambitious : out of 
the many things they want to make, those should be 
selected which are easiest. 

The Teacher. A subject such as the handicrafts, with- 
out formal organization, cannot teach itself. There is 
no textbook that organizes it well, and let us hope that 
there never will be; for as soon as it is worked out into a 
textbook, it will be difficult to adapt it to local condi- 
tions and to keep it vital. 

So, in the absence of a text, the whole thing depends 
upon the teacher. If he is resourceful, he can make the 
subject the most useful in the course, and the most in- 
teresting, too, for that matter. If he lacks resourceful- 
ness and information, he can do little. It all depends 
upon him. For the children love to use their hands, and 
all that a teacher has to do is to keep them supplied 
with interesting work. 

The Curriculum. Nobody knows how the work should 
be organized. My opinion is as follows : — 

In the seventh and eighth grades sewing and carpen- 
try should be taught. The seventh and eighth grades 
may alternate in each subject. Cooking, if taught, 
should come in the same grades and should alternate. 

In every grade the handicrafts should be used to illus- 
trate other work and make it easier to understand. 

In the first four grades many of the primitive indus- 
tries, modern industries, clay modeling, weaving, and so 
forth, should be taken up; and, in fact, in the first and 



HANDICRAFTS 191 

second grades simple industrial processes should make 
up three fourths of all the work the children do. 

This leaves the fifth and sixth grades dependent 
largely upon illustrative work, which I think is wise. 

2. Carpentry 
The Equipment. For rural schools the minimum cost 
of equipment is nothing in those places where dona- 
tions are made. But where all articles for bench work 
that cannot be made by the pupils are bought, the low- 
est cost per pupil is probably $8.92. To show what this 
includes, I quote the list from Crawshaw and Selvidge, 
a book listed at the end of the chapter. 

EQUIPMENT FOR RURAL SCHOOLS 

Handy saw. Bishops $ -70 

Brace (second grade) 60 

Auger bits, 3-16 in., 3-8 in., 1 in., Russell Jennings . . . 1.00 

Bit stock drills, 4-32 in., Russell Jennings 10 

Counter sink (second grade) 15 

Sloyd knife. No. 6 25 

Foot rule, flat edge .05 

Spoke shave, Stanley No. 54 25 

Firmer chisels, 1-8 in., 1 in., Barton .60 

Gouge, 1 in., Barton 40 

Jack plane, Stanley No. 5 1.75 

Block plane, Stanley No. 9 1-2 75 

Hammer, 6 in., Stanley, No. 12 25 

Marking gauge, Stanley No. 64 1-2 25 

Screw-drivers, 4 in.. Champion 17 

Combination Oil, India No. .029 50 

Bench hook. Van Deusen 25 

Winding stocks. Van Deusen 15 

Bench stop. Van Deusen 20 

Brush, 7 in. back 25 

Dowel plate, Van Deusen 10 

Pencil compass, Eagle 10 

Nail set .10 

Total $8.92 



192 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

This is a supply for a single pupil, but may be used 
by a number in a rural school ; and probably this is the 
minimum. 

Problems. The " problem " is a technical term used 
in the handicrafts to indicate the things on which the 
pupils work. Thus a giant stride or a swing is a problem 
when it is the article on which a pupil or a class works. 

It is important that the problems in carpentry have 
two characteristics. First, they must be interesting; 
and second, they must not be too difficult. The more 
practical they can be, the better; and, in general, if 
they can be used by everybody, they will be preferable 
to those made for the pupil alone. 

Pupils may make (1) play apparatus: horizontal bars, 
swings, coasting sleds, and teeter boards for the little 
ones. This is a source of great interest to them, and 
the number of things made will be limited only by the 
number of boys and the time to be spent upon the work 
by each. (2) Toys, such as box-traps, weather vanes, 
kites, skees, water wheels, and game boards, which are 
problems of interest. (3) Useful articles for home, such 
as bread boards, coat hangers, bracket shelves, wash- 
stands, umbrella racks, and picture frames. And (4) 
they may do useful work around the schoolhouse and 
grounds, easily providing a motive for learning carpen- 
try. Puttying windows, nailing pickets on fences, replac- 
ing boards on the side of the schoolhouse, fixing steps, 
and mending seats, in so far as they are not too difficult 
for the children, are a few of the things that may be 
done. 

In short, it may be said that the difficulty in select- 
ing problems is to know which not to undertake, since 
there are thousands clamoring for attention. 



HANDICRAFTS 193 

As the best possible source of problems, I suggest some 
such book as the American Boy's Handy Book, by D. C. 
Beard. It contains projects that are very close to the 
hearts of boys and girls. 

Processes. When a problem has been selected, the 
teacher's work begins. In brief, his business is to see 
that the children make things that will do what they 
are intended to do, and that they use good methods in 
making them. The teacher will teach any devices that 
need to be learned and will see that the work is reason- 
ably neat and substantial. 

Suppose that the problem is a swing, for which the 
rope is available. There are four processes necessary — 
tying the rope, planing and sawing the board, and bor- 
ing holes through it. Now, it is the business of the 
teacher to see that the children get some skill in boring, 
in sawing and planing, and in tying a substantial knot. 

Method of Teaching. The teacher should first of all 
take every problem and see what processes have to be 
taught; and, if necessary, exercises may be given for 
these. For instance, in the swing mentioned above, the 
teacher may let the pupil who is to build the swing 
practice at boring holes in a piece of board for a while 
before he begins on the swing board; and in like manner, 
if it is necessary, allow him to practice at sawing and 
planing for quite a while. In fact, the teacher may get 
a good deal of practice out of the pupils willingly, by 
keeping them at planing or sawing until their work meets 
with his approval and he allows them to go on to the 
problem already selected, and for which they know that 
they are now getting ready. (I say pupil, rather than 
boy, because girls can learn to handle a hammer and saw 
just as well as their brothers can.) 



194 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

One very important point is to be borne in mind. The 
developing method is to be used. The teacher must not 
tell the pupils how to do a thing before they have a 
chance to try to do it for themselves. The method by 
which he will protect the child from losing this privi- 
lege of thinking things out for himself is to require him 
to make plans before he begins. He may write them on 
paper, if he likes, or make drawings if he cares to use 
them, though neither of these is necessary; but he must 
be able to show the teacher how he expects to do the 
work. Even then the teacher may interfere too much by 
arbitrarily making the pupil correct an incorrect thing 
in the teacher's way. He should use care and allow the 
pupil to work things out, as much as is practicable, for 
himself. The developing method is preferable to the 
mere telling, because it is not arbitrary and keeps alive 
interest in technique. 

Summary. In carpentry, interesting and, as far as possible, 
socially valuable problems from the pupils' point of view, 
should be selected. Processes should be taught by the teacher 
as they are needed, and exercises should be given only when 
they are taught in connection with the problem to which they 
are to be applied. The developing method should be used, if 
full educational value is to be got out of the work. 

3. Sewing 

The parallel between carpentry and sewing is so close 
that little need be said in addition upon the latter sub- 
ject. The processes in sewing are the using of needles 
and threads, stitching, cutting, pattern making, etc. 
The problems in which they are used are multitudinous. 
They should be interesting, however, and not too diffi- 
cult. Any book on the subject will give numerous 
problems that are thoroughly practicable in country 



HANDICRAFTS 195 

schools. The teacher will teach these processes inciden- 
tally, as they are needed, and will give practice upon 
them. 

Whether the girls learn or do not learn to cut and fit 
in the grades in the country, they will learn easily to 
darn, to mend, to embroider, and to make simple gar- 
ments; and, in general, they will acquire skill in handling 
the needle. 

Three points are of importance. The^r^^ is that there 
should be much home work in the sewing classes. In 
fact, the work in school should be in large part a stim- 
ulus to the sewing work at home, as well as a place in 
which correct stitches and sewing form is taught. In 
many country districts great interest has been aroused 
in sewing, even when it has not been taught as a part 
of the regular school work. Occasionally some time is 
taken outside school; and occasionally no time is given 
to it by the teacher, except in getting up contests. 

The second point is that the boys and girls should be 
made acquainted with the great sewing industries which 
employ hundreds and thousands of men and women, 
boys and girls. And not only should they be introduced 
to the process of sewing by machine so that they can 
understand how a great plant is organized, but they 
should be taught about the social condition and the 
wages of these workers. They should be told about 
sweatshops and the pitiful wages given to the many men 
and women employed in them. Moreover, they should 
know of model plants. They should know both the good 
and the bad. The teacher's obligation has not ceased 
when she has taught a girl how to make a buttonhole. 
The girl should know the industry and the condition of 
life of those who serve it. 



196 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

The third point is that boys should learn the elements 
of sewing sufficiently to cover balls, make marble or nut 
bags, sew on buttons, and darn ordinary rents. And a 
male teacher may teach sewing successfully to girls. 
Hundreds of men make their livelihood by sewing, and 
why should not a male teacher learn the elements and 
teach them to children? 

Equipment. In its simplest form a sewing equipment 
for a particular pupil need not cost fifteen cents. How- 
ever, the pupil will in that case have to provide the 
material for sewing. But this again need cost but little 
if the children would take as their problem the mending 
of coats and wraps. I have known a good course in 
sewing in country schools given with mending as the 
basis. The teacher provided buttons, thread, and 
needles; and the boys and girls did the sewing. When 
the class, an eighth grade, had finished with its own 
clothes, it mended the coats and wraps of the younger 
boys and girls. 

Millinery and Dressmaking. It is not only fit and 
proper, but eminently wise and practical to have the 
sewing classes discuss and examine styles and style 
sheets. Women's magazines that devote themselves 
entirely to styles, or have much upon styles in them, 
should be brought to school, or bought by the school and 
studied by the pupils. Good taste in dressing is the 
desire of every normal girl. Tasty dressing is a most 
satisfying faculty, both to the dresser and to her friends. 
Why, then, should it not be discussed in school under a 
competent teacher who can by her advice keep the girls 
from buying or making clothes that are in poor taste, 
either because of color or of style .^^ If a course in dress- 
making did little more than teach women to use fashion 



HANDICRAFTS 197 

plates for suggestions, it would have done enough to 
justify it. There is no reason why all girls should have 
to depend on milliners for their hats. The average girl 
has as good taste as the average milliner, and all she 
needs, in order to make her own hats, is to know a few 
of the tricks in hat making. She will then be able to have 
four hats, where now, because of expense, she can have 
only one. 

The teacher must be careful to give the girls, not some 
trifling sewing exercise, but tasks upon which they are 
actually thinking outside of school. To practice over- 
casting, buttonhole making, and all the other stitches 
in class and have no mention of how to make dresses, 
hats, and so forth, is a waste of interest, if not a distinct 
waste of time. Appeal to the interests which are already 
alive in the pupil's mind and he will follow you to the 
ends of the earth. 

Summary. In sewing we have problems and processes, as 
in carpentry. The problems should be interesting, and the 
processes should be taught as they are needed. But instruction 
should not stop with the mere technique of sewing; it should 
seek to give the pupils an understanding of the great sewing 
industries and the conditions of life of those who are engaged 
in them. 

Jf. Cooking 

Cooking has not been worked out very well for rural 
schools, as a school subject. The chief cause of this is 
the lack of necessary facilities such as ovens, material, 
and so forth. 

Domestic Science Clubs. However, two lines of work 
have been attempted with very good results. In some 
states, working through the rural schools, domestic 
science departments in agricultural colleges have 
organized domestic science clubs in which sometimes 



198 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

several thousand girls enroll. To assist the members in 
their work, bulletins are issued from time to time giving 
recipes and other directions concerning problems in 
cooking which are to be carried on in the home. For 
instance, the Iowa State Agricultural College issues a 
bulletin on the cooking of vegetables, which takes up 
the composition of several vegetables, such as carrots, 
beans, and cabbage, and gives many recipes for making 
each into appetizing dishes. Other bulletins take up the 
composition of fruits and give various methods of mak- 
ing them into jellies or canning them. In these publica- 
tions, moreover, are such matters as correct form in 
setting the table. 

The rural school-teacher, whether male or female, 
can assist in this work by cooperating with the state 
schools in helping to carry out any plans that may be 
made. Any live teacher can enroll a large percentage of 
the older girls. In Iowa, for instance, 3000 girls are 
enrolled. This, compared with the enrollment in most 
states, is a large number; but it is less than one girl to 
every two schools. This makes it evident that the school- 
teachers of the state are not cooperating as generally as 
they should. 

The School Luncheon. Another form that the course 
in cooking may take is the organization of the work 
around the school luncheon. As Miss Richards says, 
" The luncheon taken to school may be good and 
sufficient food, but, if crushed — jam mingled with 
cookies, butter squeezed over the doughnuts — if eaten 
with chalky fingers on the schoolhouse doorsteps in 
company with flies, the additional charm of appetite is 
frequently wanting." In the winter time, particularly, 
the luncheon is cold and soggy, and it is only the healthy 



HANDICRAFTS 199 

outdoor life of the boys and girls that keeps them from 
having acute indigestion. When to this state of things is 
added poor home cooking and the good-natured acquies- 
cence of some mothers in giving their children much cold 
pie and cake, in addition to the ever-present fried pork; 
and when the food is bolted down in as short a time as 
possible so that the children may get out to play, the 
danger line is close. 

To remedy this, some schools have begun to prepare 
hot luncheons. In some places this is limited to hot soup ; 
in others meats and vegetables are added. 

Miss Mary Bull, of the University of Minnesota, 
writing in the ** Journal of Home Economics " in 
December, 1912, describes how teachers in Minnesota 
have handled the luncheon. Excerpts from the report 
are given here. Full details can be secured by writing 
to Miss Bull, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 
Minnesota. A few facts are clearly brought out in the 
article mentioned. A bulletin was issued giving a 
number of soups, gruels, chowders, etc., which could be 
prepared, and stating what utensils were needed. Sug- 
gestive lessons on the food values of the different ingre- 
dients were included. 

Perhaps a good method of giving an idea of how the work 
is carried on in this state [Minnesota], is to give a few repre- 
sentative answers received from teachers to a list of questions 
which were sent out in the spring of 1912. 

1. Has preparing and serving a hot soup with the noon lunch 
been tried? 

a. Yes. ... 

c. We have tried serving soups, sometimes cocoa, with 
our noon lunch. 

2. If so, with what success.'^ . . . 

c. I believe it is a great success. I never saw the chil- 
dren so enthusiastic about anything as they are about 



200 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

our oil-stove experiment. They think soup and cocoa 
taste better at school than anywhere else. My only 
regret is that we did not get the stove sooner. 

3. How much time is necessarily spent in the preparation of 
the hot dish? 

a. But very little of school time. . . . 

c. Use recess period for preparing vegetables, etc. . . . 

d. Time taken in the morning, recess, and at noon to 
finish preparation. 

e. From ten to twenty minutes daily. . . . 
g. Two or three minutes. 

4. Was the work done by teacher or student? . . . 

h. We all help. I see to the cooking and the girls serve 
and wash dishes at the noon hour. 

c. I let the girls take turns with preparing it. They 
enjoy it and become interested in the work. Having 
to do the work at school may induce them to try 
preparing the same dishes at home. . . . 

6. How secure the material to be used in the hot dish? 

a. Pupils volunteer to bring this material. 
h. I started by buying materials myself, but the school 
board furnishes the food materials now. 

c. The soup bone is brought by the pupils in the morn- 
ing as are also the vegetables. The soup bone is put 
on to boil slowly as soon as it is brought. The vege- 
tables are prepared before 9 o'clock, if time permits, 
or at the first recess. . . . 

d. Two cents a week from each child and materials 
purchased with amount collected. 

7. What equipment is used? 

a. Heater, cups, spoons, kettle, ladle, large spoons, dish 
pans, fireless cooker — (tin cans for material fur- 
nished by children). Some children have brought 
plates, knives, and forks. ... 

c. A large kettle, large spoon, dish pan, cups and spoons 
furnished by the pupils. . . . 

8. How secured? 

a. Stove is borrowed. The rest was furnished by 
teacher. Pupils furnish their own cups and spoons. 

6. Had cups and spoons. Fireless cooker was bought 
with social money; the rest by the teacher. 



HANDICRAFTS 201 

c. Supplied by district. . . . 

g. The oil-stove was paid for with part of the money 
made by giving a box-social and entertainment 
shortly after Christmas. 
9. If the heater is used in preparing the hot dish, please 
explain the process. 

a. The lid is taken ofif at the top of stove and kettle set 
in. . . . 

c. We use our heating stove and have a wire to hold the 
kettle on the stove. . . . 

e. We have a kerosene stove, 8-quart kettle and ladle. 
These articles were obtained through the efforts of 
the schoolgirls. At a recent "Farmers' Club," the 
girls volunteered to furnish a lunch consisting of 
coffee, sandwiches, pickles, and cakes. The sand- 
wiches and cakes were made from the recipes con- 
tributed by Mary L. Bull. A collection of $3.50 was 
the result. For this, we obtained the above-named 
supplies. Soup bowls and spoons are brought from 
the different homes. . . . 

10. Was a lesson regarding food given in connection with the 
dish prepared, as suggested in Extension Bulletm No. 19? 
K not, why not? 

a. To some extent. 

h. Yes, in a very simple form. ... 

11. What is the attitude of the students toward such work? 

a. They are willing to do the extra work and enjoy the 
soup. 

h. They are very enthusiastic. . . . 

e. The pupils enjoy the work. We have fixed up a part 
of our hall as a "Kitchenette," and the boys trans- 
formed a grocery box into a "cupboard" for our 
dishes and supplies. This is fastened to the wall 
above our stove. The girls enjoy washing the dishes 
during the noon hour. 

12. What is the attitude of the parents? 

a. I have not heard of any one who has anything against 
it. Many have spoken favorably of it. . . . 

13. What are some of the benefits derived from carrying out 
the Hot Lunch plan? 

o. It is an aid in discipline, a step toward domestic 



202 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

science, a great comfort, especially on cold days, 
besides the nourishment furnished in the foods. 
. b. More appetizing than only cold food. Brings the 

scholars together as a family. Meal is more quiet 
and orderly. ... 

d. The pupils do better work after having hot lunches 
and it is educational in the line of cooking, manner 
of eating, cleanliness, etc. 

e. I think this work a great benefit both to the children 
and teacher. It helps to make the school more home- 
like. . . . 

g. It gives the children something warm at the noon 
hour. They enjoy eating their lunch more than ever 
before. It helps them to study better during the 
afternoon session. It is such a success that I would 
not do without it again if I had to furnish all the 
materials myself. 

h. Noon lunch is eaten quietly and more slowly. . . . 

It is interesting to note how teachers with ingenuity 
utilized the heater, the kerosene stove, and the fireless 
cooker, as each was available; how some had more dishes 
and others had less; and how the boys helped in the 
household arrangements. 

These two methods of handling cooking — through 
clubs and school luncheons — do not solve the question 
of cooking in the school. They are only the thin end of 
the entering wedge, but they are both well worth the 
careful attention of bright teachers. 



5. Primary Handwork 
Teachers are often driven to distraction in their 
efforts to find work enough to keep children busy in the 
primary grades. To do this some one made use of the 
fact that if you keep children's hands busy, you can 
keep their minds busy. So handwork becomes Busy 



HANDICRAFTS 203 

Work, a term which exactly expresses the idea of the 
users. It keeps the children busy. 

But from this unintelligent use of handwork a transi- 
tion has occurred. For it was shown to the busy work 
advocates that it is possible to keep children busy and 
at the same time give the busy work some educational 
value. It is possible to have some other and higher ideal 
in giving exercises than to keep the children at work. 

This is the argument given to the mechanical teacher 
who " keeps school." But the real reasons for handwork 
we have already discussed above. We found that it 
helps pupils to make interesting things, to develop their 
instinct for doing things, and that, when properly 
taught, it gives them an insight into great industries. 
These are the only good reasons for teaching primary 
handwork. Keeping children busy is merely one good 
result that comes from good teaching, but is not an end 
in itself. 

Primitive Industries. A few pages above we discussed 
a theory called the recapitulation theory, which states 
that any person from the time he is a little child until 
he grows to maturity passes through the same stages 
that the race passed through from its very beginning 
till the present time. We said then that this parallel 
was not very close, but that the theory suggested some 
good ideas for teachers. 

One of the places in which it works best is in the 
study of industries in the primary grades. For it was 
found when tried that the simple devices that primitive 
people used in doing things are much better understood 
and appreciated by the children than are modern meth- 
ods. Numerous examples will come easily to mind. The 
most primitive method of cutting grain was probably 



204 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

to pull it up by the roots; the most modern is to use the 
binder. The most primitive method of grinding grain 
was to use two flat stones; the most modern is the rolling 
mill. The most primitive method of water transporta- 
tion was a log; the most modern is an " ocean grey- 
hound." All three of these illustrations bear out our 
statement. For there is no doubt that a child gets 
more fun out of pulling grain than he would out of 
running a binder, out of grinding grain with stones than 
out of managing a rolling mill, out of floating a log 
than out of taking care of the Lusitania. As a matter of 
fact, he cannot handle these particular modern forms 
of ancient industries; they are too complex for him to 
understand. In those early days the abilities of our 
forefathers were more nearly on a level with those of 
modern children than with those of modern adults; 
and since this is the case, the primitive industries are 
better understood and enjoyed by children than are 
the more complicated modern processes. 

The people who hold the recapitulation theory say 
that we should let the children do the things that primi- 
tive people did because they are in a stage of develop- 
ment that parallels the primitive stages the race passed 
through. As soon as they make this assertion, however, 
much opposition occurs and they cannot prove that the 
child is really in that stage. But if one avoids that state- 
ment and says instead that we teach these primitive 
forms because they seem to be easily understood and 
keenly enjoyed by the pupils, we take a position from 
which we cannot be dislodged. 

A large part of the time of primary grade children can 
be given over to these industries. For direction in doing 
this there is, so far as I know, no better guide to follow 



HANDICRAFTS 205 

than K. E. Dopp's series published by Rand, McNally 
and Company, of Chicago, and entitled ** The Tree 
Dwellers," " The Early Cave Men," " The Later Cave 
Men," etc. This is the best guide I know, because it is 
the best attempt yet made to pick out and show the 
origin of significant activities in such a way that chil- 
dren may understand and practice them. 

The best plan to follow is to purchase for the library, 
at least one of each of the books in the series or more if 
there are funds for supplementary reading. Then in the 
first grade *' The Tree Dwellers " should be read as a 
supplementary reader; and as it is read, the practical 
things to be done should be done by the pupils. If there 
is only one copy, each child should read it in turn and 
do what is advised. He will find here many very inter- 
esting things; and even adults may discover in the little 
primers things of which they have never heard, but 
which, we are reliably informed, are accurately described 
by the author. 

The plan of the texts is to tell a story of primitive 
life, and to have the children do a number of things 
that are suggested by the story. So on this basis we find 
the children asked in the first grade to look for roots and 
berries good for eating; to describe early methods of 
carrying babies and of making cradles in the trees; to 
model trails that cattle make on their way to water; to 
visit caves; to give water to others when no receptacle is 
handy; to tell vegetables by their smell; to dig roots 
with fingers and with sharp sticks; to model a bird's 
nest; to study about wild honey; to name animals that 
can climb trees; to make a stone knife; to make a shelter 
from the wind and rain; to gather tough grasses and 
make a basket; to find out what animals live in hollow 



206 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

trees; to make a torch; to gather trophies; and to dress 
dolls like the people in the stories. It is not possible in 
thus stating the problems in each case detached from 
the context of the preceding story to give an adequate 
idea of the wonderful appeal this work has for first- 
grade children. 

The reader will notice that all these things can be 
done and are to be done without tools; hammers, saws, 
knives are all forbidden. These things were done centu- 
ries ago by people who had none of these tools, and the 
children can do them now with only those means that 
nature afiPords. 

In ** Later Cave Men," which is intended for about 
the third grade, similar interesting things are done by 
the children. Let me quote a few directions : — 

If there are cliffs or shelving rocks near by, go and see them. 
Find places where you think caves may form. Find out why 
it is that the rocks shelve. Model the cliffs which you find. 
Draw or paint a pattern which you think the cave men might 
have tattooed upon their arms. Where do we put the pictures 
which we make? Why did the cave men put them on their 
bodies? Find a good branch for a shaft, make it into a shaft, 
find a stone which you can use for a scraper. Make a collection 
of the different kinds of wood which you know. Which are 
hard? Which are soft? Which will do for shafts? 

The pupils are shown how to make stone knives, how 
to put handles on them, and how to collect stones good 
for flaking. They are instructed in primitive methods 
of signaling. They boil water by the first method of 
boiling — dropping hot stones into skins full of water. 
They make message sticks, collect the calls of birds, 
and describe methods of dressing skins, using such songs 
as were sung by the cave men in stamping upon them. 

These are only a few of the many things that the 



HANDICRAFTS 207 

children do. That they are fascinated goes without 
saying. But mere interest amounts to little. It is of 
more importance that the work have some intelligent 
idea behind it. This it undoubtedly has; for here we 
find in their early beginnings the great processes which 
we now use in the more advanced form. Modern indus- 
tries could not go back to these ancient forms because 
they are too slow and too laborious, but they suit 
children exactly. 

That we do have the essence of modern industries in 
these simple beginnings is shown by a number of those 
just mentioned; for example, collecting roots and ber- 
ries and digging roots with sticks are connected with 
food production; the trails represent transportation; 
and caves, the furnishing of shelter. Gathering tough 
grasses to make baskets is the early form of the modern 
weaving process. Tattooing and trophy wearing are 
simple forms of what we find later as personal adorn- 
ment. The making of the shafts and knives out of wood 
and stone was the prototype of the manufacture of 
tools and implements. These are a few illustrations 
which show that we have in these primitive forms the 
simple beginnings of which we have spoken. 

Summary, Primitive forms of tools and primitive attempts 
at solving the problem of food, clothing, and shelter are excel- 
lent materials for primitive handwork because they are fasci- 
nating to children and show in miniature the essential mean- 
ing of our modern industries. Miss Dopp's books present the 
best classification of material for use in the grades. 

Modern Industries. There are other teachers who 
make modern industries the nucleus of this work. This 
method is worked out in representative material by 
beginning with the home. Doll houses are made (some- 



208 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

times out of a cracker box) in which, by simple devices 
found and explained in texts, the building of a house 
is taken up from beginning to end. The windows are 
put in in miniature. Furniture is made, and walls are 
papered with paper designed by the children. Rugs are 
woven for the floors, and stairways are put in. Then the 
downtown businesses are represented — the butcher 
shop with its contents, the grocery and the drygoods 
store, the post office, and the blacksmith shop. Agri- 
culture is studied on the sand table, where the area is 
marked off into plots with fences. Barns, houses, gates, 
windmills, and clay animals are in the field; real grain 
is sown and sprouts. 

This is supplemented by visits to all these places, or 
to such as there is time for, for the purpose of determin- 
ing what should be illustrated. In preparation for these 
excursions the class does a considerable amount of 
detailed study in the school. But it is not necessary to 
make these visits if the children are familiar with what 
they are to represent. 

Illustrative Work. In both of the foregoing types of 
work — primitive and modern industrial — there is an 
excellent chance to correlate reading and language. 
Miss Dopp does this with her stories, which run on and 
illuminate what is being done. And in her exercises 
called " Things to Do " and " Things to Think About," 
there is given frequent opportunity for oral and written 
language work and, for that matter, for drawing as well. 
In the other work just described there is the same oppor- 
tunity for written and oral language; and except for the 
fact that we do not have industrial readers, there could 
just as well be correlation with reading. However, there 
is a great mass of this work which is secondary to other 



HANDICRAFTS 209 

subjects and may be used as illustration and as drill 
work. This idea is worked out in several books, but it is 
particularly well classified in " Educative Seat Work " 
by Fannie W. Dunn, published by the State Normal 
School at Farmville, Virginia. There are two important 
correlations, besides a good deal of miscellaneous work. 
The first group to be illustrated is reading, word study, 
literature and language. Scissors are used on old maga- 
zines to cut out familiar words; pictures and their titles 
are separated by the teacher and put together by the 
pupils. Illustrations of stories are drawn. Sandtable 
construction represents scenes and events. The second 
group illustrated is number. Pegs, splints, numbers on 
cards, paper domino games, cardboard money games, 
measures, clock faces, are a few of the kinds of material 
used in this connection. 

There are more familiar forms of handicraft than 
those described above, of great use in drill work. How- 
ever, the teacher should not carry the work to excess, 
but should vary it with the many other forms of con- 
structive work that are provided in such profusion. 
Even the purely mechanical teacher who is interested 
merely in keeping his children busy can find ample work 
of various sorts, if he cares to examine a few books such 
as those mentioned above, and can at least keep his 
pupils happy while, at the same time, by judicious care, 
he educates them along fundamental lines. 

Clay Modeling. Little children love to make mud 
pies, and in that we have a manifestation of a deep love 
for plastic modeling. This yielding substance, which 
holds its shape better than sand, possesses great interest 
for children all through the grades. The teacher has 
merely to give this interest its proper direction. 



210 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

This can be done best by having the children use it 
for illustrative work. They may draw clay animals or 
men. They may make bricks, and with the bricks, by 
uniting their labors, build a house. They may model a 
flower or a vase. Mere playing with the clay is of some 
use; but they ought to be making things with a purpose, 
so that they will be getting both pleasure and training. 
This will give a motive for study. For in addition to 
enjoying the work, they will be illustrating something 
of value. 

Then, what the teacher needs to do in addition is to 
criticize and to have the class criticize for naturalness; 
and finally, he can make suggestions for improvement 
and change of methods of work. No great beautj 
should be sought. Naturalness and as much accuracy 
and neatness as the maturity of the pupil justifies are 
the two standards by which to judge of the excellence of 
his work. (Directions for this work may be found in any 
reference book on manual arts.) 

Weaving. All forms of weaving — baskets, mats, 
hammocks, etc. — are simple in principle; they can 
easily be overdone. There is, probably, less thought and 
more drill in weaving after the weave is mastered than 
in any other form of school exercise. The same thing is 
done over and over and over again, time without end. 
Once in a while a new pattern takes a few minutes* 
thought in order to be put into workable form; but that 
is followed by hours of working in and out, in and out. 

If one were anxious merely to keep the children busy, 
it would be a fine thing to keep them weaving. But if a 
desire is present to give them at the same time as much 
education as possible, weaving will be watched with care 
to see that it is not overdone. 



HANDICRAFTS 211 

Summary. There are five main types of primary handwork 
— primitive occupations, modern occupations, illustrative 
material, clay modeling, and weaving. These are all of use; 
and of them all, probably primitive tools and occupations 
provide the most valuable starting-point. 

6. Advanced Handicrafts 

Alternation. Sewing is an upper-grade subject, be- 
cause the needle is too fine an instrument for primary 
children. Woodwork and cooking are likewise advanced 
subjects, depending rather upon age than grade. The 
hammer and saw can be used to advantage in the sev- 
enth and eighth grades, and I hazard the opinion that in 
the seventh grade is the place to begin sewing. How- 
ever, that is merely an opinion. The subjects are so 
new that there is no accurate information at hand stat- 
ing about where the work in either carpentry or sewing 
should commence. If I were teaching in a country 
school, I should introduce it in the seventh and eighth 
grades, and should alternate the seventh and eighth 
grades. 

Correlation. No matter whether there are special 
classes in the handicrafts in the upper grades or not, 
illustrative work should be carried on. This is one of its 
greatest uses in the upper grades. 

The method of using it is this: The teacher runs 
through the history, let us say, and decides at what 
points the pupils may illustrate the work. Illustration 
may be done by drawing, as in illustrating a scene : by 
the sand table, in showing a surface; by pasted pictures 
in folders, and by models made of wood, putty, or clay. 

If the teacher finds one such place in each history les- 
son, he may have all the pupils do the illustrating. Or 
he may find three, let us say; and in this case he may 



«12 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

apportion the illustrating, letting one third of the class 
do one illustration, the second third do one, and the 
final third the last one. In this way, without taking 
much time, many points in the lessons can be made 
clearer. 

In this upper-grade work there is a great tendency to 
overdo the work; that is, to spend too much time on it, 
fooling with little puttering details. So care has to be 
taken. The teacher must always remember that this 
work is merely for illustration and that sketches, rather 
than finished products, are all that are either necessary 
or advisable. 

A few examples of what is meant by picking out the 
points of possible illustration will probably make the 
point clearer. The following are two paragraphs which 
may be made the subject of some illustrative work: — 

Never did a pilgrim approach Niagara with deeper enthusi- 
asm than mine. I had lingered away from it and wandered to 
other scenes, because my treasury of anticipated enjoyments, 
comprising all the wonders of the world, had nothing else so 
magnificent, and I was loath to exchange the pleasures of hope 
for those of memory so soon. At length the day came. The 
stage-coach, with a Frenchman and myself on the back seat, 
had already left Lewiston, and in less than an hour would set 
us down in Manchester. I began to listen for the roar of the 
cataract, and trembled with a sensation like dread, as the 
moment drew nigh, when its voice of ages must roll, for the 
first time, on my ear. The French gentleman stretched himself 
from the window, and expressed loud admiration, while by 
a sudden impulse, I threw myself back and closed my eyes. 
When the scene shut in, I was glad to think that for me the 
whole burst of Niagara was yet in futurity. We rolled on and 
entered the village of Manchester, bordering on the falls. . . . 

It was an afternoon of glorious sunshine, without a cloud, 
save those of the cataracts. I gained an insulated rock and 
beheld a broad sheet of brilliant unbroken foam, not shooting 



HANDICRAFTS 21S 

in a curved line from the top of the precipice, but falling 
headlong down from height to depth. A narrow stream di- 
verged from the main branch and hurried over the crag by a 
channel of its own, leaving a little pine-clad island and a 
streak of precipice between itself and the larger sheet. Below 
arose the mist, on which was painted a dazzling sun bow with 
two concentric shadows, — one almost as perfect as the origi- 
nal brightness; and the other drawn faintly around the 
broken edge of the cloud. 

Here a teacher might decide that the sentence begin- 
ning "the stage-coach" could be illustrated by a draw- 
ing. A picture of the falls, as the writer saw it, could be 
drawn. A miniature falls might also be made out of 
clay, or represented on the sand table. Pictures of the 
falls from different angles might be collected. 

Here are four possible points of illustration, all found 
in two paragraphs, and all of them would lend interest 
and clearness to the understanding of the experience. 
Sometimes several lessons might be gone over without 
any attempt at illustration, because nothing within the 
capabilities of the class was observable. But on the 
average, there is in every lesson in most subjects a pos- 
sibility of the use of some form of illustrative handwork. 

Summary. Besides special classes in the handicrafts, there 
is ample opportunity for illustrative use of various branches 
in making other subjects clearer to understand. 

7. Class Mechanics 

In such a broad subject as the handicrafts and one 
so new and presenting little logical organization, it is 
almost impossible to give intimate directions for class 
management in the subject. 

This can probably be best done by referring the 
reader to a few books in each subject which will provide 



214 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

details about the subject-matter and methods of han- 
dling it in the class. These books are not necessarily the 
best. But from inquiry, in every case, of a number of 
authorities in the subjects covered, these seem to be 
reliable texts : — 

In carpentry. Handwork in Wood, by William Noyes; pub- 
lished by Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois. 

In sewing, A Sewing Course, by Mary S. Woolman; published 
by Fred. A. Fernald, Buffalo. 

In primitive industries. The Tree Dwellers, The Early Cave 
Men, The Later Cave Men, and The Tent Dwellers, by K. E. 
Dopp; published by Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago. 

In illustrative seat work for the lower grades. Educative Seat 
Work, by Fannie W. Dunn; published by State Normal 
School, Farmville, Virginia. 

In clay modeling. Clay Work, by K. M. Lester; published by 
Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois. 

In basketry. The Basket Maker, by L. W. Turner; published 
by the Davis Press, Worcester, Massachusetts. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Black. Primary M ethods, pp. S7-79. (Illustrative handwork.) 
Crawshaw and Selvidge. The Teaching of Manual Arts, 

pp. 41-63. (Suggestions for many problems.) 
Dopp. The Place of Industries in Education, pp. 173-242. 

(Showing what can be done without equipment.) 
Row. The Educational Meaning of Manual Arts and Industries, 

pp. 216-25 (suggested course of study); 159-74 (economic, 

industrial, and social values). 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Recall your experiences as a pupil in the primary grades. 
How were you kept busy? 

2. Watch a five-year-old pupil for an hour when he is among 
"things," and see what he tries to make. 

3. When I was a boy, my teacher would not let me draw 
pictures in school. Did she do right? 

4. Give ten instances of cases in which boys have made 
useful and rather complicated things out of wood. 

5. Is it your experience that girls should know how to 
handle a saw, hammer, and plane? Why? 



HANDICRAFTS 215 

6. What are some of the modern industries you know suflB- 
ciently well to make the children understand them? Where 
will you look for information about other industries? 

7. What are some simple things that boys and girls can do 
in school, which are the essential processes in these industries? 

8. What are the different processes a boy needs to know in 
building a chicken coop with a window? Draw a picture to 
show the kind of chicken coop. 

9. What are the different processes a girl needs to be familiar 
with in making a hat? 

10. What would you do if, after you had introduced handi- 
crafts into the primary grades, a parent should tell you that 
he sent his boy to school "to learn and not to do all this 
foolishness"? 

11. Select four lessons from reading-books and describe the 
kinds of illustrating you would have the children do, indicat- 
ing the particular passages to be illustrated. 



CHAPTER IX 

GEOGRAPHY 

1. Subject-M alter 

Function. The most commonly stated definition of 
geography is that it is the study of the earth as the home 
of man. This definition has two elements. On the one 
hand it is concerned with a study of the earth, includ- 
ing continents and oceans, topography and climate. 
But among all the facts that might be taught and learned 
about the earth, geography is concerned only with those, 
says the definition, which are related to the earth as the 
home of man. By "the home of man," we mean those 
things intimately connected with man's general well- 
being — what he eats, what he wears, how he keeps out 
the cold, the heat, the rain, and the snow. These are 
the things that geography studies — the nature of the 
earth's surface and climate concerned with the securing 
of food, clothing, and shelter. 

Place Geography. This may be made more exact by 
stating the function of geography as that of getting con- 
trol of values by relating them to place. 

This very simple definition means that geography 
places things for us. When the boy asks, " Where is 
the jam? " he is invoking the aid of geography, because 
he is trying to get control of something of value by con- 
necting it with a place. When the poet wrote 

My bonnie lies over the ocean, 

he also used geography to get what control he could of 



GEOGRAPHY 217 

his value because it did help him a little to know where 
his "bonnie " was buried. When Johnnie goes out hunt- 
ing the colts, he is delighted if some one says to him, 
"Mr. Jones has shut the colts in his stable for you.'* 
Here a value (getting the colts) is greatly helped by re- 
lating it to place (Mr. Jones's stable). When the police- 
man is asked where the ball park is, and replies that it 
can be found upon Thirty-first Street, he is using geog- 
raphy. When the son comes home and asks his father 
where his mother is, he is also using geography in trying 
to locate her. 

Rational Geography. Within a comparatively recent 
period geographies not only have been telling where 
things are, but have in addition been attempting to ex- 
plain why they are there and why they are what they 
are, in terms of the places where they are found. That 
is, attempts are made to explain them in terms of cli- 
mate and physiography. This is called rational geogra- 
phy, or " why geography," while place geography is 
called "where geography." 

Place geography is satisfied with saying "Rice grows 
in Louisiana." But rational geography seeks to explain 
why, in terms of climate and physiography, rice grows 
there. It finds, for instance, that there must be a long 
warm season without frosts, and that the surface must 
be low so that water may flood the fields at certain in- 
tervals. Place geography informs us that tea grows in 
China, but rational geography carries the investigation 
further and explains, in terms of climate and surface 
conditions, why tea grows in China. 

Place geography gives us good control of values, but 
rational geography gives us better control. Here is a 
single illustration which will demonstrate this fact. 



218 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Place geography states that tea grows in China. This 
is of use to Americans because it tells them where they 
may hope to find tea. But if the agricultural depart- 
ment is told by geography the conditions of climate and 
surface that enable tea to grow in China, they may 
search for the same conditions in America, and if they 
find them, tea will, of course, be grown here and it will 
no longer be necessary for Americans to send to China 
for tea. 

Summary. The function of place geography is to tell us 
where we can find things in which we are interested, and the 
function of rational geography is to explain in terms of climate 
and physiography why we find them in those places. 

Structure. The structure of geography may be dis- 
covered by an analysis of values and of place. The 
values which we have used in illustration have been sim- 
ple and unclassified ; they were such things as mother, 
colts, tea, etc. But we may classify values along great 
lines of interest. There are, for instance, the industries. 
These are in part controlled by the facts of geography. 
For instance, climate has much to do with the industry 
of agriculture; and physiography has a great influence 
on manufacturing, because much of its success depends 
upon distances from markets, from productive bases, and 
so forth. Then there are political values which may be 
controlled by climate and physiography. Particularly 
strong is the influence of physiography upon politics, 
for national boundaries are very frequently determined 
by mountain ranges, rivers, and oceans. Then we have 
biological values. For instance, a very interesting field 
of investigation is that which devotes itself to discover- 
ing to what extent the nature of plants and animals is 
dependent upon climate and physiography. To these 



GEOGRAPHY 219 

may be added any number of values which geography 
helps to control and understand. 

On the other hand, geography divides the place ele- 
ment into two main divisions — climate and physiog- 
raphy. These two great sub-divisions are again sub- 
divided. Climate is composed of three ingredients: 
temperature, moisture, and winds. Physiography is va- 
riously divided into oceans, rock formations, erosion, 
soils, and other factors which may be found in physical 
geography textbooks. 

We get, then, our organization of geography, first, by 
classifying values or important things; and secondly, 
by showing what effect the different elements have 
upon these. 

Physical geography is simply a study of the place 

element; that is, of climate and physiography. To get 

geography, we have to relate physical geography to 

things of value, such as plants, animals, industries, and 

so forth, to show where they are and why they are there. 

The only great reason for the study of the surface of the 

earth — capes, bays, rivers, mountains, and continents 

■ — is to get pupils ready to use them in understanding 

the things that they think are from time to time worth 

while. 

Summary. Geography is organized, on the one side by classi- 
fying values and, on the other, by analyzing physical geography 
into its elements. These are brought together by showing how 
the values are related to climate and physiography. 

Course of Study. From all the foregoing facts two 
things are evident. 

Firsty much of the material found in school geogra- 
phies is not geography at all. Descriptions of govern- 
ment, of customs, of races, and of industries are not 



220 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

strictly geography, because they are not studied in rela- 
tion to climate and physiography. 

However, when this material is interesting and valu- 
able, it might as well be taught in geography classes as 
elsewhere. The customs of the Chinese are of impor- 
tance to us; we have no subject called anthropology in 
school wherein these facts may be studied; so geography 
is as good a heading to teach them under as any other. 
As Hall says, "Through it the American who leaves 
school at the sixth grade gets his first and almost only 
peep at the wide world in which he lives. It is his ele- 
mentalized university course, in which all is reduced to 
the lowest and smallest terms. It is introductory to 
almost everything else, or can be made so." 

The second fact is that to make up a course of study 
one must select, since there is by far too much material 
to teach. To select, one has first to decide upon the 
most important things to teach. 

In planning a course of study one has to arrange this 
material according to the needs and interests of the 
pupils from day to day and from grade to grade. When 
one has selected the most important material, and has 
arranged it according to the stage of development of the 
children, he has prepared his course of study. 

Textbook makers and others have already done this. 
How well it has been done is not so certain, since we 
have not a unanimous opinion as to the most important 
topics to teach, nor anything like a unanimous opinion 
about the order and arrangement of the subject-matter 
according to the nature of the pupil. For instance, in 
one geography Africa is given 25 pages and South 
America 26. Yet the commerce with and the general 
news from South America is twice that from Africa. 



GEOGRAPHY 221 

Canada in the same text has 13 pages devoted to it, 
although the commerce with Canada is more than that 
with South America or Africa. 

Questions of space and a thousand other criticisms 
arise in connection with geography texts and material. 
But this fact cannot be gainsaid, that the American geog- 
raphy, with whatever faults it has, is the finest made 
and the best illustrated geography textbook in the 
world. It is suflSciently good for the teacher to follow, 
whichever text he may use, with as much closeness as 
he follows any textbook, remembering that he is to de- 
viate here and there whenever, in his judgment, the 
needs of his pupils seem to call for a departure from the 
book. 

It is, however, of considerable interest to compare the 
various courses of study that different people suggest, to 
see at what points they diverge. Of these, a list is given 
at the end of this chapter. 

Summary. The course of study is made by picking out the 
important facts in geography, and arranging them according 
to grades to suit the interests and needs of the children. In 
this, there is great difference of opinion; but the teacher 
without a large amount of geographical training should follow- 
fairly closely whatever text may have been adopted for his 
school. 

Standard. A student knows his geography well when 
he knows the location of all the important places and 
products and can tell why these are where they are; and 
when he knows all the important geographical facts, as 
every student should by the time he finishes the geog- 
raphy course. 

When I was a boy we learned the names of every river, 
cape, or island that could be found on the map. Quite 
distinctly I remember how the teacher had us pick out 



222 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the rivers, one by one, while she wrote them on the 
board. These we memorized. The rivers of Europe 
flowing north and west were Petchora, Dwina, Vistula, 
Oder, Elbe, Wieser, Rhine, Seine, Loire, Garonne, Douro, 
Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquiver. Of these fourteen 
rivers, I have never since, so far as I can remember in 
almost thirty years of rather extensive reading, met 
with more than eight. Of these eight, probably two are 
of prime importance — the Rhine and the Seine. The 
other twelve were probably memorized at a loss. 

Geography textbooks show many things now that are 
not of prime importance. There is a great deal of filler 
in all texts, and from this the teacher must select the im- 
portant as best he can. Where he is in doubt, however, 
about omitting, he had better follow the text. 

Home Geography. Home geography is the only sort 
of geography people have who do not read books or 
hear travelers' tales. And so far as making a living is 
concerned, it is not absolutely essential that any one 
know any geography outside that which he sees and 
uses around home. If, however, he reads the papers 
or travels, it is almost necessary for him to have his 
geography very considerably enlarged. 

One does not need a book or a school to teach him his 
home geography, because he can pick it up for himself 
as he needs it. For this reason, when home geography is 
taught in school, it is intended principally to get a pupil 
ready for advanced geography — world geography. 
This it does by teaching children the meanings of geo- 
graphical terms and definitions, through illustrations 
taken from their own home experience; and then, when 
these terms are thus made clear, they can be used in 
world geography. For instance, a pupil will have to use 



GEOGRAPHY 283 

terms like river hasin, delta, cape, or island. But they 
will mean little unless they are explained by illustrations 
in the topography surrounding the school. If the pupil 
sees a river basin in connection with the local creek, an 
island in the same creek, or a delta at its mouth, he can 
then understand these terms in world geography, but he 
cannot until then. 

McMurry says there are seven principal topics which 
should be studied in home geography. These are: (1) 
food products and the occupations related to them; 
(2) building materials and the related trades; (3) 
clothing, the materials used and the processes of its 
manufacture; (4) local commerce, including roads, 
bridges, and railroads; (5) local surface features, includ- 
ing streams, hills, woods, etc. ; (6) town and city govern- 
ment, including the court house, city hall, city council, 
etc.; (7) climate and seasons, including the sun, wind, 
storms, and heat. 

This provides practically all the terms that will be 
used in later world geography, and any list that accom- 
plishes this is sufficiently complete. For with a year or 
more spent upon these terms and ideas in local surround- 
ings, they become second nature to the children who 
study them. 

It is not very difficult to organize this work. One can 
begin almost anywhere and take up material in almost 
any order. The order, however, depends largely upon 
what text is used and what seems to be the " next thing " 
to take up. The children having not yet gone far into 
geography, there is no necessity for a logical arrange- 
ment; a ** psychological '* organization is better. When 
the terms and ideas of geography have been studied in 
this irregular order, one thing alone is needful. They 



224 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

must stick reasonably well in the minds of the pupils, 
in order to form a working vocabulary. 

Summary. The function of home geography in the schools 
is to give the pupils a working vocabulary for world geography. 

2, Motive for studying Geography 
The specific appeal in geography may come from two 
sources — from an immediate interest in geography or 
from the selection of highly interesting values. The 
former requires no discussion, because if it is there, we 
have nothing further to do about it. But if not, then the 
method of getting interest in geography is to connect it 
with values which have to be placed and explained. 

These values are of three or four sorts. First of all, 
there is the appeal to the romantic element in pupils, 
which no other subject can satisfy so well. The arctic 
circle, from which come back tales of heroism and 
adventure, upon maps on which the little stars mark 
the northward advance of discoverers, is filled with a 
romance that feeds fat the idealism of childhood. At 
the time when this is studied, columns of supplementary 
and library reading should be fed them as fast as they 
can masticate it. The bizarre effects of foreign dress and 
costumes, the beauty of mountain scenery, the breath- 
catching jeopardy of glacial crevasses, the luxuriance of 
the tropics and the date palms of the desert awaken 
such longings and psychic reverberations in the growing 
boy as will perhaps never be awakened by any other 
means or at any other time. It is this romantic love for 
adventure that makes travel interesting to so many 
people and sends hardy souls into unexplored dangers. 
Geographical readers, simple books of travel and dis- 
covery are indispensable. 



GEOGRAPHY 225 

A good course of geography in the fifth grade can be 
taught through books of travel if, as the pupils read 
them, they study the map with the guidance and 
patience of the teacher to aid and steady them. The 
course will lack system, to be sure; but geography, at 
best, cannot be very systematic, and there is less neces- 
sity for system in geography in the fifth grade than in 
many other places. 

This interest takes on other attractive forms, such as 
that of taking imaginary trips during imaginary vaca- 
tions. Classes have worked up a very considerable 
enthusiasm for a number of things, such as time tables, 
railway fares, cities, kinds of cattle, climate, etc., by 
taking an imaginary trip in the winter to Texas to buy 
cattle. So, also, a trip of like reality can with profit be 
made to Colorado or British Columbia, for which many 
dozens of pictures showing the grandeur and sublimity 
of the Rockies have been collected by a class. 

In like manner, interest may be stimulated by having 
a class correspond with a class of equal age in a far 
distant locality amid different scenery. Here, again, 
romance taps reservoirs of interest, as is shown by the 
flood of pictures and descriptions that pass back and 
forth between such groups. 

In addition to the appeal to romance, there is a prac- 
tical appeal. That is, pupils need the geography in other 
material activities which they are carrying on. For 
instance, in stamp collecting, a boy is led far afield as 
soon as he begins to gather the stamps of any foreign 
country. Nor can the collector hope to carry on his 
work intelligently without getting a fairly good hold 
upon the location of countries. 

As in history, school work can be carried on so that 



226 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

children have to study geography in order to under- 
stand what they read. One may study the Civil War 
in many ways; but if the student tries to see why the 
campaigns were planned and waged as they were, he 
must fall back upon his geography. He will find that 
facts of geography, and not morals, made the Southern 
States slaveholders, and the Northern States aboli- 
tionists; that geographical conditions, not nerves, gave 
birth to the Populists. Geography explains the particu- 
lar routes that westward immigration took. Climate 
makes the South different from the North to this day, 
in temperament, habits, and industries; and geography 
explains how. So not only may the teacher so teach 
history that geography may be learned; but unless 
history is taught through geography, it will not be 
learned as it ought to be. 

Besides the appeal to romance and to the practical 
problems in the lives of the pupils, an appeal can always 
be made to curiosity about common and important 
industries and products. For instance, the history of 
commercial products is a matter of interest to children. 
One teacher saw a load of hides hauled across the city, 
and made that rather common sight the beginning of a 
series of geography lessons. 

She inaugurated the series by the question, " Where 
do those hides come from? " The answer led to the 
station, to the stock yards at Kansas City, and from 
there to Wyoming. Before they were through, they 
knew where the grazing lands were, why they were 
grazing lands, how the cattle were raised and cared for 
by ranchers and cowboys, how rounded up and shipped, 
and how slaughtered and finally disposed of. This load 
of hides was carried on to the shoe shop and was not left 



GEOGRAPHY 227 

until the resulting shoes were on the feet of some boy or 
girl. 

Similar series may be introduced by other stimulat- 
ing questions, such as *' How do we get raisins? '* or, 
" Where is rice produced? " or *' Where does silk come 
from? '* Such questions are easy to select and not infre- 
quently easy to develop into a well-rounded geographical 
topic. In fact, many wholesale houses distribute liter- 
ature and studies of the process of manufacture, for the 
use of teachers and children in school. 

Summary. In getting an interest in geography, appeal may 
be made to romance and adventure, to interest in practical 
activities in which the children are engaged, and to curiosity 
as to the origin and history of common and important articles 
of commerce. Geography is capable of being made a very in- 
teresting subject, if a live teacher has charge of the class. 

Correlation. Geography is related to almost every 
subject in the world, for the all-suJ9Scient reason that 
almost everything in the world is more or less dependent 
upon climate or the physical condition of the earth. 
History we have seen to be dependent upon geography, 
which is called " the eye of history." Botany, likewise, 
is dependent upon climate and soil, since the form of a 
plant is determined very largely by its environment. 
Modes of dressing, with all the industries dependent 
upon the need for clothing, vary with the climate. 
And architecture, from the igloo of the eskimo to the 
palm hut of the South Sea Islander, is dependent 
almost entirely upon the physical conditions of the lo- 
cality. 

So geography is easily in place in almost every subject 
of the course of study, and the connections should be 
made wherever and whenever possible. Particularly 



228 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

should it be used in connection with language, literature, 
drawing, history, nature study, and agriculture. 

But in another sense many subjects are correlated 
with geography as an aid to it. Arithmetic, for instance, 
is constantly needed in geography. So, also, are art 
and pictures. Reading, of course, is needed at every 
turn. The manual arts, particularly painting, sandtable 
work, and other forms of representation, help to illumi- 
nate geography and make it intelligible. In short, to a 
very considerable extent all subjects are needed to make 
clear the relation between things we value and the 
places where we can find them. 

3. Methods of studying Geography 
Drill. The first thing necessary for the wise use of 
memorizing in geography is the determination of im- 
portant items. Once the teacher has decided upon these, 
he should, in my opinion, insist upon their memorization. 
I am sufficiently old fashioned to believe that the im- 
portant capes of North America on the east and west 
coasts, together with the rivers, bays, and islands, should 
be memorized until they can be repeated with the glib- 
ness of " Old Mother Hubbard." The American boy, in 
like manner, should memorize the rivers of the United 
States in order, the states and their capitals, according 
to plan. In fact, he should memorize everything that 
is of enough importance to justify it. It often stands 
one in good stead to be able to repeat without thinking : 
" Maine, Augusta; New Hampshire, Concord; Vermont, 
Montpelier," etc. In geography, whatever is worth do- 
ing, is worth doing well; whatever is worth memorizing, 
is worth memorizing well; and whatever is going to be 
used a great deal should be set aside for memorizing. 



GEOGRAPHY 229 

Textbook Study. Geography is essentially a textbook 
subject and needs to be studied with that in mind. In 
studying about any country, or state, or province, there 
is one thing necessary at the beginning. The teacher 
must decide what are the important things to be studied. 
For instance, in the Tarr and McMurry, which I have 
before me, there is given a description of Egypt (Book 
II, Part II, pp. 378-81). In taking up this subject, the 
first thing to do is to decide what topics are worth 
considering. I should say that they are: (1) the Nile, 
(2) agriculture, (3) history, (4) present status, (5) the 
Suez Canal, (6) the two great cities. Others might not 
agree with this list, but if I were teaching the geography 
of Egypt, these are the points I should feel an American 
child ought to know about Egypt. 

The next thing in preparation for study is to tell the 
pupils what these points are, and have them pay partic- 
ular attention to them. In this lesson, I should set some 
questions about Egypt for them to study : — 

1. What is the effect of the Nile upon Egypt? 

2. What crops are raised in Egypt that might compete with 

American crops? Do they? 

3. How is Egypt governed now? 

4. Compare the Suez Canal with the Panama Canal. 

5. Why is Egypt not now so great as it once was? 

6. For what are its two chief cities important? 

7. Draw an outline map locating the chief features. 

Three things should be noted about these questions. 
First, they do not permit parrot answers. They require 
thought. For instance, Number 2 might have been, 
W^hat crops do they raise in Egypt? But by giving it a 
little turn one gets the same items, but from a novel 
point, because Egypt is looked at in relation to American 



230 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

markets. The second point is that, when they are 
answered, the pupil has sifted from the whole lesson 
those points that ought to be memorized. By throwing 
the information into the form of answers to questions a 
better hold is secured than would be if the teacher had 
said, " Read up on the Nile, agriculture, history, present 
status, and important cities of Egypt." Moreover, 
when the question is thrown into such a form that it will 
not permit of a merely memorized answer, it contains 
for the student a challenge that is decidedly stimulating 
to thought. 

The third point worthy of note is that these questions 
admit of reference reading in other geographies and 
geographical readers if they are available, as they ought 
to be. For as fast as possible, pupils should be led to 
read in several books and to cull from each anything 
that will answer their problems. 

Summary. In setting assignments in geography, the first 
thing is to decide what are the points that are worth remember- 
ing about a country. The second thing is to call attention to 
these points by asking an assignment question about each one, 
so that when the pupil is getting the answer to the question 
he is learning the selected facts. 

Imagination. Geography, history, and literature are 
subjects that, of all school subjects, depend to the 
greatest extent upon imagination. For this activity of 
the mind is the one by which we build up a picture of 
things that are not present to the senses. If the word 
Egypt brings to my mind's eye a picture of pyramids, 
sand-swept plains, the winding Nile, and the delta at its 
mouth, it can do so only if the imagination helps. In the 
chapter on spelling we mentioned several different types 
of imagery that are at hand for us to use, and showed 



GEOGRAPHY 231 

how in some people one type and in other people another 
type predominates. In this chapter, however, we wish 
to lay stress upon two other factors, which have to do 
with the process by which we call up, or build up, pic- 
tures of things. 

The first fact of importance is that every image is the 
product of past experience. When I am asked to imagine 
a rose as large as a cart wheel, I may never have seen 
that sort of rose, but if I have seen a rose and a cart 
wheel, I can then imagine a rose as large as one. But if 
I have never seen a rose or a cart wheel, I cannot get 
the mental picture of a rose as big as a cart wheel. If a 
fanciful novelist draws a picture for us of the inhabit- 
ants of the moon or of Mars, he picks up a number of 
characteristics with which people are acquainted and 
puts them together in an odd way; but he cannot build 
up a picture whose ingredients are not in past expe- 
rience. 

This shows us that all world geography is dependent 
upon the past experience of pupils and, particularly, 
upon home geography. For instance, the following 
sentence can be understood and a clear picture formed 
only when the pupils understand the words and terms : 
These mountains form a circle enclosing a broad level area 
called the Hungarian plain, through which the Danube 
flows. Unless the children have a mental picture of a 
circle and level plain, they would hardly be able to get 
any idea of the topography of Austria-Hungary. 

These pictures and definitions of terms in geography 
it is the business of the teacher to teach from the practi- 
cal experience of the pupils. If the teacher wished the 
children to build up a picture of the Hungarian plain, 
and if the pupils did not get it by reading, he should 



232 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

refer them to a similar location in their neighborhood 
if such a one could be pointed out: a level area sur- 
rounded by a circle of hills with a stream running 
through. If such a landscape did not exist in the neigh- 
borhood, an image of a circle, of a level plain, of encir- 
cling hills, and of a stream running through, should be 
called up one at a time and put together upon the 
request, "Imagine what this looks like: a great level 
plain surrounded by a circle of mountains, with the 
great Danube running through it." 

In every case the children must start from their own 
immediate experience, if they are to get any clear idea 
of what they read. The second important fact to be 
borne in mind in the teaching of geography is that the 
geography pictures, or images, must be made very con- 
crete. What I mean may be made clearer by a contrast. 

One may teach the sentence. The northern and western 
half of the Chinese empire is a region of plateaus^ in some 
places as high as most mountains^ and crossed by many 
mountain ranges, in two ways. It may be hurried over 
and tested by one or more questions that require only 
a memory of the words to answer. The following is such 
a question: Describe the surface of the northern and 
western parts of the empire. Obviously, this could be 
answered by the words. It is a region of high plateaus 
crossed by mountain ranges. But there is no certainty 
that they have any picture of that portion of the empire. 

It may also be taught more slowly and with assistance, 
so that they can see a high plateau, as high as some moun- 
tains, and crossed by mountain ranges still higher. And 
if this is an important fact, it ought to be taught slowly 
and vividly. 

How to get Concrete Images. A very important ques- 



GEOGRAPHY 233 

tion follows from the foregoing: How can such vivid 
pictures be built up? To this psychology has one general 
reply. They must be built up out of past experience. 
And it has, also, a number of detailed aids in reorgan- 
izing. 

Pictures. One of the greatest aids in teaching 
geography images is pictures. Not everything can be 
pictured, and even when it can be, there is a limit in 
volume. But as far as possible, everything described in 
geography should have a picture, if one is obtainable. 
Geographies by different writers should be on the 
library shelves. Children should be encouraged to clip 
geography pictures from papers and magazines at home. 
School scrapbooks classified by continents, and in the 
case of Europe and North America by countries, should 
be filled and added to from year to year. If money is 
available, stereoscopes which add the third dimension 
of depth should be at the disposal of the pupils. These 
pictures, both in books and out, should be handy, so 
that the pupils may look at them whenever they have 
spare time. 

Maps. Maps help to make conceptions in world 
geography clear and definite. Flat maps cannot be 
accurate, because the earth which they represent is 
round, but they are accurate enough for children. 
They should be used extensively, and the pupils should 
draw maps for themselves. 

Many teachers compel children to spend a world of 
time upon the technical details of maps, and most of 
this time is wasted. Ninety-nine per cent of all maps 
drawn should be sketched. They are not intended to 
be pretty, but to show in an offhand way the shape of 
the country and the physical features concerned. It is 



234 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

better to sketch a map ten times in twenty minutes than 
to spend twenty minutes on one copy. The maps 
should not be slovenly, but time should not be wasted 
over them. A detailed and precise map may be allowed 
once in a while, just as a sort of flourish when all the 
study is over, but the flourish should not become a 
constant habit. The teacher gets a much better idea of 
a pupil's hold upon map drawing from a few of his 
sketches than from one of his masterpieces. 

Type Studies. A type study is a detailed study of a 
great geographical fact. Such facts are deserts, trade 
centers, river systems, etc. A great saving of time and 
clearness of understanding results from such a study. 
For if, as McMurry shows, a study of the great basin of 
Utah and Nevada as a type of desert is made, the chil- 
dren learn a desert very clearly; and when the Sahara 
Desert, the Desert of Gobi, or the Australian Desert is 
studied, less time has to be spent upon each, because the 
children already know pretty well what a desert is. 

In handling type studies, the important points are to 
decide what shall be the type studies for the year in each 
class, and to collect all maps, descriptions, pictures, and 
easy reading material upon these types. One may, how- 
ever, select the types for study after he finds out those 
upon which most material is available. But in each 
case, every effort should be made to make the study as 
concrete as possible. 

This concreteness may be secured at the expense of 
breadth of ground covered; for it pays better to cover 
a little and do it well, than to hurry over it all and make 
none of it clear. I should be better satisfied to leave out 
half the material in a geography text if I were sure that, 
as a result, what was studied was well learned. 



GEOGRAPHY 235 

Summary. Concrete ideas of world geography may be built 
up in imagination by careful attention to the content of pupils' 
minds, by the use of pictures and maps, and by a leisurely 
passage through the subject, taking time enough to have the 
pupils see vividly and understand clearly as they go along. 
For this work, type studies are useful because they enable the 
teacher to go into detail here and there. 

Rational Geography. In studying that kind of geog- 
raphy which seeks to explain why things are where 
they are, we make use of deduction. 

In the chapter on grammar we showed how definitions 
and rules are, or may be, built up by the inductive 
process through an examination of particular cases. The 
same method may be used to build up principles in 
geography, such as definitions of geographical terms and 
the establishment of geographical principles. The 
terms, cape, hay, island, or desert belong to the first; 
the relation of climate to altitude, to latitude, and to the 
proximity of large bodies of water are examples of the 
latter. 

However these principles may be learned, they are of 
use as soon as we begin answering the question Why? 
Suppose I ask why Winnipeg is so much colder than 
Vancouver in winter, or Minneapolis than Seattle. We 
have to go back to a number of principles to answer the 
question. One principle would be that the farther from 
the equator one goes, the colder grows the temperature. 
But since Minneapolis and Seattle are on the same 
parallel, they ought by this principle to have the same 
temperature. However, there is another principle to the 
effect that the proximity of a large body of water tends 
to keep the temperature higher in winter and lower in 
summer. This principle gives the clue to the answer 
to the question. 



236 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

In all explanation in geography by deduction, there 
are just three factors that enter in: (1) There is a par- 
ticular fact to be explained, or discovered; (2) there 
are some general principles of geography; and (3) these 
have to be brought together by what is called inference. 
In induction there were three steps : the examination of 
particulars, the comparison, and the statement of the 
generalization. In deduction we begin with the generali- 
zation. We do not need to discover the generalization — 
we have it; and by inference we connect it with particular 
cases. In the illustration just above, we start with a 
number of general principles about climate; and we 
have, also, the particular climates of Minneapolis and 
Seattle. Our business in deduction here is to find which 
of our stock of principles of climate fit these particular 
eases. This selection, or finding, is called inference. 

So, also, I may have to hunt for some particular cases 
because they are not given to begin with. For instance, 
I may be an invalid whom the doctor advises to go to a 
region of rare atmosphere and warm days. I do not 
know of such a place, but I know two or three geographi- 
cal principles. These are that rare temperature is found 
at a high altitude, but a high altitude is cold. However, 
the nearer one approaches to the equator, the warmer 
it is. So I set out, in imagination, to find a place in the 
mountains rather far south. I have found the charac- 
teristics of this place by inference. 

In the upper grades rational geography can be used 
to excellent advantage. The whole tendency in teaching 
geography is to take the material as it is found, but the 
greatest fun comes from setting and solving problems 
whose solutions involve a knowledge of the principles of 
geography. Textbooks offer work of this kind, but the 



GEOGRAPHY 237 

teacher should set as his ideal the asking of such ques- 
tions wherever within the pupils' powers to answer. 

Summary. Deduction is a process of thinking by which we 
apply rules and principles to the explanation or discovery of 
particular cases in which we are interested. It should be used 
in geography in the form of what is called rational geography 
wherever and whenever the teacher thinks the principles are 
in the possession of the pupils. 

Jf,. Class Mechanics 

Alternation. It is usually found advisable to teach 
home geography in the third and fourth grades together. 
After this the fifth and sixth grades may alternate, and 
the seventh and eighth grades as well. This is easily 
possible in geography, because there is no close logical 
relationship between the series of topics. There is no 
reason why Europe should be studied either before or 
after Asia, since an understanding of one is in no way 
dependent upon a preliminary knowledge of the other. 

Maps. Relief maps of putty, papier mache, or salt 
should be made by the classes. The sand table should 
be used constantly from the third grade up, for flat 
maps will not show relief. 

Maps on paper should be done with pencil, and on 
paper upon which erasures can be made without diffi- 
culty. Only occasionally should ink maps be allowed, 
because they waste much time. 

Scrapbooks. Old ledgers with every fifth leaf left in 
make excellent scrapbooks. There should be one of these 
for each continent, and one for the United States sepa- 
rately. All pictures cut from magazines and papers 
should be brought to school with their titles attached. 
When the study of any continent occurs, the pictures 
relating to it should be picked out of the pile of loose 



238 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

pictures, and the class should decide which to paste in. 
This is done the first year; and the book, so begun, forms 
a nucleus for future additions. 

Outlines. It is wise to have an outline with which to 
begin the study of the physiography of a continent. 
What this outline shall be is a matter of your own judg- 
ment. With this point understood, the following is 
suggested for each continent : — 

1. Countries and capitals 6. Islands 

2. Mountains 7. Peninsulas and isthmuses 

3. Rivers 8. Lakes and seas 

4. Gulfs and bays 9. Area fin comparison with 

5. Capes other units) 

In no case should any geographical name be listed 
under these unless it is of prime historical or commercial 
importance. Once the lists have been prepared, I am 
firmly of the opinion that each list should be memorized 
until the series has become second nature or, as the 
psychologist would say, until it has become automatic. 

Topical Questions. In a former chapter we showed 
the advisability of asking questions which would re- 
quire extended answers. This is particularly important 
in geography. For instances of these questions the 
reader may refer to the assignment questions on Egypt 
given a few pages earlier. 

Geography Matches. Children get a good deal of fun 
and considerable training out of geography matches of 
the what and where variety. Sides are chosen sometimes, 
and the pupils are asked to tell '* What and where is 
Magellan? Rhine? " etc. Once children get interested 
in this work, you will often hear them trying to "stump" 
each other on their way home or even on their way to 
the fishing grounds. This interest is valuable; and if the 



GEOGRAPHY 239 

teacher will be careful not to load it with a mass of 
geographical padding, it will produce excellent results. 

Zigzag journeys may be used in tests or in class or 
just for fun. Here the teacher will inquire, *' How can I 
get by water from Philadelphia to St. Paul, or Chicago?" 
or "What are my best railway connections from here to 
Seattle? " 

Field Trips. In home geography, trips to near-by 
streams and studies in the school yard are quite valu- 
able if handled with care; but care must be taken. 
Pupils are often harder to control outside the school- 
room ; so the teacher who takes field trips should be sure 
of his discipline. There is great danger of wasting time 
on these trips. Therefore the teacher should know 
beforehand what he is going to do. He should always 
make a preliminary trip, himself. The pupils, too, 
should know what they are to look for and should be 
expected to give reports when they return to school. 

The rural school-teacher can do little at this except 
when the whole school goes along, unless separate classes 
are taken after school or at noon. Parents sometimes 
object to these excursions, saying that they send their 
children to school to learn, and not to gad about over 
the country. So, taken all in all, field trips are good 
things, but have to be handled with care. 



REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Betts. The Mind and its Education, pp. 128-42. (Training 

the imagination.) 
Black. Primary Methods, vol. ii, pp. 20-29. (Geography for 

the primary grades.) 
Charters. Methods of Teaching, pp. 365-72. (Methods of 

securing realness.) 



240 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

McMuRRY. Special Method in Geography, pp. 139-64 (types) ; 

pp. 165-97 (course of study). 
Redway. New Basis of Geography, pp. 139-71. (Pictures and 

maps.) 
RocHELEAU. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, vol. ii, pp. 

152-54. (Course of study.) 
Sutherland. The Teaching of Geography, pp. 155-59 (the 

deductive method); 183-215 (pictures and illustrative 

material) . 
White. The Art of Teaching, pp. 275-94. (Course of study.) 



CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Give the geography of corn; i.e., locate the corn belt and 
account for it in terms of soil and climate. 

2. Give the geography of oranges, grapes, the sweet potato, 
cotton, and the hook worm. 

3. Describe your geography of Mexico; i.e., the geography 
of Mexico which you know, however hazily. How does it 
compare with that possessed by certain of your friends.? 

4. Haveany two people exactly the same geography? Why.'^ 

5. What are the advantages of learning geography lists until 
they are automatic? 

6. What facts about South America should be remembered? 

7. What type studies might be made with your state as the 
example ? What with the United States as the country studied ? 

8. Count the number of pages given to each country of 
South America in some textbook, and see if these agree with 
your idea of the relative importance of the country to the 
United States. 

9. Did you ever learn any lists in geography thoroughly? 
Give some, if you have. Have they ever been of use to you? 
Enough so to make you have your pupils memorize lists? 

10. Set assignment questions for a chapter in geography 
selected from any book that is convenient. 

11. What were the most interesting things in geography for 
you when you were in the grades? 

12. Give a series of steps in describing the geographical 
history of a mahogany bedstead; of a dozen lemons; of a 
rubber eraser. 

13. Give five instances of the correlation of geography with 
literature; withdrawing; with agriculture. 

14. Give five instances of faulty images in the study of 
geography. 



CHAPTER X 

HISTORY 

1. Subject-Matter 

Function. The function that history serves is twofold. 
It provides a pleasant occupation for a large number of 
people, who, for a part of their time, or for all of it, 
study it just because they like to know about what 
happened in the past. They are very well described by 
the poet Southey in these words : — 

My thoughts are with the Dead; with them 

I live in long past years ; 
Their virtues love, their faults condemn. 

Partake their hopes and fears. 

These people study history for its own sake. To them 
it makes no difference whether history has any practical 
use or not. And, of course, if they want to study about 
the past, they have a perfect right to do so. Many of 
the people who have lived in the past are worthy of study 
— more worthy than many of those who live to-day. 

History may, however, be studied for its intrinsic 
value by people who are not very much interested in the 
past. These students study history to find methods for 
solving theix own problems. For instance, a teacher 
may not care a great deal about the history of George 
Washington except as it helps her to get her children 
to tell the truth, Willie may object to telling the truth 
because he is afraid of a whipping. History v/ill help 
by saying, " Here is a story of a great man who had 
a chance to tell a lie, and this is what he did." Or, a 



242 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

boy grows discouraged about securing an education. 
History again furnishes an example in the story of the 
early struggles of Abraham Lincoln. Out of school, a 
sinner is afraid that he has " sinned away his day of 
grace." But history helps him by furnishing the story 
of the thief on the cross. 

The foregoing are moral problems. But history aids 
in handling many other types of situations. Why is 
the South Democratic in politics? What should be our 
attitude toward the Philippines? Should the Federal 
Government of the United States conserve the forest 
wealth of the nation? History shows causes, prece- 
dents, results — provides us with data upon which to 
work in answering this question. There is hardly a 
problem or question raised to-day which does not have 
light thrown upon it from a study of history. 

Summary. The function of history is to give us accurate 
information about the past. It helps us to solve our problems 
by telling us how other people have solved these same problems 
when they were confronted with them. We will get the 
greatest amount of value from history when we make it as 
real and concrete as we can, when as nearly as possible we can 
re-live the situations in which past peoples met these problems. 

Patriotism. It is sometimes said that history develops 
patriotism. This it does by showing how many men and 
women in the past, when met by great crises, have, in 
attempting to solve the problems that confronted their 
countrymen, given themselves wholly and unselfishly, 
even sometimes at the cost of their lives. The spectacle 
of men so acting comes to the present generation as an 
answer to their questions about sacrificing self to coun- 
try. Many a man when brought face to face with an 
issue that permits of an easy path to self-aggrandizement 



HISTORY 243 

or a difficult path to unselfish devotion to his country, 
has been influenced by the way in which some dead hero 
acted in a similar situation. And all citizens, whether 
brought actually face to face with such a situation or 
not, when they think what they might do if their coun- 
try should make such a demand on them, are influenced 
to act in imagination in favor of their country. Such an 
attitude we call patl'iotism. 

The Course of Study. The Committee of Seven pub- 
lished a few years ago a widely read report on "The 
Study of History in Schools." In it they gave an out- 
line of a course of study for the grades which runs as 
follows : — 

Grade HI. Stories from the "Hiad," the "Odyssey," the 
**^neid," the Sagas, the "Nibelungen Lied"; the stories of 
King Arthur, Roland, Hiawatha. 

Grade IV. Biographies of characters prominent in history : 
Greece — Lycurgus, Solon, Darius, Miltiades, Leonidas, Peri- 
cles, Socrates, Alexander, Demosthenes, Plutarch; Rome — 
Romulus, Virginius, Horatius, Cincinnatus, Regulus, Hanni- 
bal, Cato, Pompey, Caesar, Agricola; Germany — Arminius, 
Alaric, Charlemagne, Henry IV, Frederick Barbarossa, Guten- 
berg, Charles V, Luther, Frederick the Great, Bismarck; 
France — Clovis, Charlemagne, Louis IX, Joan of Arc, 
Bayard, Palissj% Francis I, Henry IV, Richelieu, Napoleon; 
England — Alfred, William I, Richard I, Warwick, Elizabeth, 
Sidney, Raleigh, Cromwell, Pitt, Clive, Nelson, Stephenson, 
Gladstone; Southern Europe — Mohammed, Francis of Assisi, 
Loyola, Prince Henry, Isabella, Columbus, Lorenzo de 
Medici, Michel Angelo, Galileo, Garibaldi; Northern Europe — 
Robert Bruce, William of Orange, Henry Hudson, Gustavus 
Adolphus, Rembrandt, Peter the Great, Kossuth; America — 
John Smith, Miles Standish, William Penn, La Salle, Pat- 
rick Henry, Franklin, Washington, Daniel Boone, Lincoln, 
Lee. 

These names are suggested, not as a final selection to be 
rigorously adopted, but as indicating one way of arousing 



244 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

interest and of conveying historical information at the age 
when ideas of time and place relations are only imperfectly 
developed, but when interest in individuals is keen and active. 
The list may be changed m toto, without changing the principle. 
The plan for these two years (grades III and IV) implies that 
the object is to arouse interest, that the method used is to be 
wholly the oral one, that the stories are to be united with 
lessons given in language and in geography, that the selection 
of myths and stories should aim to give universal rather than 
particular notions, and that the teacher should have a suffi- 
cient acquaintance with history and literature to be able to 
decide wisely concerning the selection to be made. 

Grade V. Greek and Roman history to 800 a.d. circa. 

Grade VI. Mediaeval and modern European history, from 
the close of the first period to the present time. 

Grade VII. English history. 
, Grade VIII. American history. 

C. A. McMurry in his "Special Method in History" 
works out the following courses of study: — 

Grade III. Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations, 
Washington's Birthday, local history, Indian life and relics, 
the different nationalities in the community, and where they 
came from. 

Grade IV. Discoveries and explorers: Pioneers of the local 
state, Henry Hudson, the earliest Dutch settlers, Champlain, 
the Five Nations, La Salle; with some optional topics. 

Grade V. European explorers in America, and Western 
stories; European history: Spanish and Portuguese stories, 
stories of England and Scotland. 

Grade VI. European history, including Persian Wars, 
Darius and Xerxes, the battle of Salamis, the Punic Wars, 
the Scipios; Colonial history in America, including Virginia, 
New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. 

Grade VII. The Reformation in Germany and Europe, the 
Puritan revolution in England, Louis XIV and the French 
monarchy; American history, including the period from the 
beginning of the Revolution to the ratification of the Constitu- 
tion. 

Grade VIII. European history (a few selected topics); 



HISTORY 245 

American history from the ratification of the Constitution to 
the present time. 

Criticisms. The course of study outlined by the Com- 
mittee of Seven is biographical in grades III and IV. 
First come Greek myths, then follow biographies of 
Greece, Rome, Germany, France, England, southern 
Europe, northern Europe, and America. In the upper 
grades the order is strictly chronological: Ancient his- 
tory, mediaeval and modern history, English and 
American history in grades V, VI, VII, and VIII 
respectively. Except in grades III and IV, no attempt is 
made to teach the history that is of most interest to each 
grade. For there is no reason to think that ancient his- 
tory is any better for the fifth grade than is English 
history. The historians who made the report were 
thinking more of the history and of giving it a chro- 
nological organization than they were of fitting the 
work of each grade to the children who are expected to 
study it. 

The course of study made out by McMurry attempts 
to relate history to the children's natural interests. In 
the third grade he adapts the history to celebrations, to 
stories of local people, etc. His fourth grade material 
is composed of American biographies, and the fifth 
grade work is likewise biographical. In the sixth, sev- 
enth, and eighth grades the work is a combination of 
biography, with the Colonial period in the sixth grade, 
the Revolutionary period in the seventh, and America 
under the Constitution in the eighth grade. 

McMurry says in effect that children all through the 
grades are interested in biography. In the third, fourth, 
and fifth grades they are interested in little else, but in 
the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades they are old enough 



246 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

to begin to understand the development of the political 
government of their own nation. 

In this he is as nearly correct as our present under- 
standing will permit any one to be. Certainly the bio- 
graphical element should never be lost sight of in the 
grades. The reason for this is in part that children like 
biography. But another reason is that facts and prin- 
ciples carry best by stories. This anyone will recog- 
nize if he remembers that a sermon whose points are 
illustrated by stories is better understood than one with- 
out stories. The Master Teacher's success as a teacher 
is due to the fact that He always illustrated his great 
principles by parables. Many thousands of volumes of 
the most scholarly kind have been written to explain 
what He meant, but his own simple illustrations in one 
little book have made more people understand what He 
wanted to teach than all these thousands of difficult 
explanations. So, in history, the facts and lessons con- 
tained therein are best understood and stick the longest 
in memory when they are associated with the lives that 
lived them. 

' Continuity in History. In any field of history, as 
American history, the people have had some problems 
that have been with them constantly. For instance, one 
problem that has confronted the American people is 
that of organizing all the separate states with their 
different interests and pasts into one united country. In 
Colonial history we study each state to see how each one 
grew up independent from the others, with its own govern- 
ment, laws, and ideals. In this period, while they were 
separate, they attempted from time to time to unite, 
whenever they were confronted by big problems, such 
as opposing the concerted attacks of Indians or the 



HISTORY 247 

encroachment of the French. They met from time to 
time and framed plans of union, such as Franklin's. 
In the Revolutionary period we see how they did get 
together to withstand England, and how, after the war 
was over, they tried for a number of years to frame a 
constitution that would give the states as much independ- 
ence as they could keep while at the same time forming 
a real union. Then, after the Revolutionary period, we 
find this question coming up again and again. Finally, 
at the time of the Civil War an actual rebellion took 
place, in which some of the states fought to become 
independent, while others fought to keep the Union 
intact. Even to-day, the present administration is face 
to face with the question as to whether or not the states 
shall conserve the forests and national lands, or whether 
the National Government shall do so ; and some writers 
claim that the differences of opinion are serious enough 
to split the Democratic party. 

Rational History. This sort of history which seeks to 
show how a continuous problem runs through the sub- 
ject^ and endeavors to explain it by cause and effect, 
is called rational history. The other sort of history study 
may be called factual^ because all it seeks to do is to 
teach facts. In studying rational history, it is necessary 
to understand not only that certain facts occurred, but 
just why they happened as they did. A factual study of 
the Civil War would deal merely with the facts. It 
would state that war began in such and such a year, that 
the Federal leaders took such and such measures, and 
that the Confederate generals did thus and so. If the war 
were studied rationally there would, in addition to this, 
be an attempt to explain why war was declared, what led 
the Federals to do this, and the Confederates to do that. 



248 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

The most important question for teachers in all of 
this work is the amount of this reasoning from cause to 
effect that pupils in the grades are able to accomplish. 
The answer, in brief, as I see it, an answer based on 
empirical grounds, is this: Children in the seventh and 
eighth grades can do a great deal of this reasoning if the 
teacher will help them, but below that grade there is not 
much use in laying stress upon the connection of events 
in history. 

Rural School History. It is probably not wise for 
rural schools to attempt to teach history to any extent in 
separate classes before the seventh grade. American his- 
tory studied out of the ordinary text should begin there. 

This does not mean that history will not be taught 
below these grades. One cannot help teaching history 
to children who read widely; for school readers have 
much historical matter in them. Supplementary readers 
should be partly historical. Special occasions, as na- 
tional holidays, have historical settings; and many of 
the best story-books for children are founded upon his- 
torical events. 

But in the seventh and eighth grades some attempt 
should be made to systematize American history. This 
will lead back at certain points into English history, 
but no systematic English history should be attempted. 

Summary. The course of study should have a strong bio- 
graphical element. The reading material in all grades should 
and does contain much historical matter. But systematic 
history should, in rural schools, begin not before the seventh 
grade and then consist of only American history. In these 
grades attempts should be made to teach it rationally. 

Standards. When pupils have finished the eight 
grades, how much history should they know.^ In answer- 



HISTORY 249 

ing this question we must define what we mean by the 
word know. One may have a great mass of facts and 
ideals that are a part of his make-up, but which he cannot 
organize or state. Or he may have facts that he remem- 
bers definitely. Now looking at the question from the 
first standpoint, I should say that the pupil should read 
as widely as he possibly can — not to remember all, but 
to absorb. The actual facts to be remembered need not 
be many. In dates, if he remembers 1492, 1607 or 1621, 
1776, 1785, 1791, 1861, besides those he picks up natu- 
rally, he probably has enough. That is, he has enough 
if he remembers them. Of facts he should not be expected 
to remember many; the significant facts only are neces- 
sary, and it is not to be expected that he know the 
details. In the daily lessons, of course, he is supposed 
to know many details that he would not be expected to 
know at the end of the year or a year later. These are 
more numerous, but the number important enough to 
be made automatic is relatively small. In short, in 
history study, the pupils should read widely for what 
they can absorb ; should memorize only a few facts, but 
those few should be remembered well. 

3. Motive for Study 

Immediate Interest. There is no such thing as imme- 
diate interest in history in the grades. If there were, the 
pupils would read any historical story with interest. 
There are only certain kinds of facts in which they are 
interested. 

Mediate Interest. Children are fond of adventure, of 
bizarre stories, and of biography with action in it. To 
make history interesting to children, it has to feed these 
interests. To make children like history, it has to be the 



250 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

kind they like. This is the case of the problem of getting 
interest. 

One thing in which children are interested is special 
days, and these may be made a fine basis for much 
reading. Thanksgiving Day easily becomes the center 
of extensive work in Colonial history. 

Local characters are frequently interesting because 
they are local. Daniel Boone can be made interesting 
to all children, but particularly to the children of Boone 
and Callaway Counties, Missouri, because some of his 
descendants live in these counties at this day. Then, too, 
stories of pioneers and the olden days in any locality 
have a fascination for children which will, in the higher 
grades, make them seek interviews and write stories for 
the rest of the class to hear. In fact, so strong is this, 
that in some country schools bright teachers with a love 
of history have organized little historical societies with 
the children as members, and these have collected relics 
of bygone days, such as books, candlesticks, guns, 
knives, and so forth, and have furnished a small mu- 
seum in the school or in some other public place. But 
chief of all, the result has been that they have thereby 
developed a love of the past and a cherishing regard for 
the monuments that exist in the communities in which 
they live. 

If I were an historian and wanted to write a text on 
American history which would make the children love 
the subject, I should make it 1000 pages long instead of 
300. Instead of packing it with facts, I should select 
just a few great movements and events, and I should 
write all the interesting stories centering about them 
that I could find. Our histories are too small. For 
instance, an elementary history in front of me has 350 



HISTORY 251 

pages. The children spend nine months on this, which 
is at the rate of two pages a day. And all the material 
on these pages is packed and condensed till there is no 
fun left in it. The teacher who uses such a book should 
see that there are at hand for outside reading some 
other histories and, if possible, historical novels, which 
can be understood by the children; source books pre- 
pared especially for young students; and supplementary 
readers. To make history interesting it must not be 
concentrated history. There must be plenty of interest- 
ing detail. Condensed history is like hard tack. It is 
probably nourishing, but very hard to masticate. 

Summary. The secret of getting children interested in his- 
tory is to make it biographical; center it around the inter- 
ests of the children; and, particularly, put in plenty of stories 
and anecdotes that fill it in and give it body without making 
it more complicated. A teacher with a thin history book 
must supplement the text by outside readings of a simple 
sort. 

Correlation. Anyone who has read the foregoing pages 
will see that history is easily correlated with many other 
subjects. These may be summarized briefly. 

History works well with drawing, because the latter 
can be used as an illustrative medium. Many events 
can be portrayed; and a boy ought always, if he has 
gotten the content of what he writes, be allowed some 
little time for embellishment by pictures. 

History and reading are also closely related, because, 
since one needs to read in order to master history, he can 
get practice in reading by reading history. If the basic 
reader in a school does not have plenty of historical 
material in it, a few historical supplementary readers 
should be purchased for the children. 



252 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Literature is correlated with history in two ways. 
Poems and speeches can be used to clarify historical 
events and make them interesting. The poetry that was 
written at the time of the Civil War and just prior to it, 
makes clear the intensity of the feelings during that 
national crisis. History also clarifies poetry. Without 
the historical setting of the " Star-Spangled Banner,'* 
that song loses half its value. 

Geography, in particular, is correlated with history. 
Climate and physiography play such a tremendous 
part in all the affairs of men that they must, of course, 
leave their influence in a marked degree upon history. 
Climate affects health and bodily vigor. Climate, to- 
gether with soil, as we said before, made the Southern 
people slaveholders. The mineral production of Cali- 
fornia made history. Streams of water with force and 
fall turn machinery and determine a nation's character- 
istics. Waterways facilitate communication and pro- 
mote unity. Mountains affect inter-communication and 
tend to produce isolation. Mountains, too, promote free- 
dom and love of independence. 

Military campaigns are based upon geography. Here 
is a pass, there a point that commands highways of com- 
munication. These are strategic points which have to 
be taken, and history is made around them. 

To make some of these connections between history 
and geography is one of the interesting tasks of rational 
history. The geographical explanation of historical facts 
is fascinating whenever it is followed with persever- 
ance. 

N^ 3. Methods of Study 

Problems. The most important point in teaching 
systematic history in the seventh and eighth grades is 



HISTORY 253 

that each event in history is due to some defect in what 
has been done previously. When this deficiency is felt, 
a problem arises, and some events are carried through 
by the nation to solve this problem. Then, in return, 
this solution has certain results which often in their turn 
have defects in them and lead to new events which would 
seek to correct these defects. This statement can best 
be made clear by an illustration taken from an ele- 
mentary school textbook in history.^ On pages 266-68 
occur the following sections : — 

261. The first steam railways. In 1807 Fulton had 
proved that boats could be propelled by steam. Later it was 
asked whether "steam wagons" were possible, for use on land. 
George Stephenson, an English engineer, said that they surely 
were possible, and in 1825 he demonstrated this by opening 
the first steam railway in England. A year later, John Stevens 
built the first steam locomotive in America, and operated it on 
a little experimental railway at Hoboken, New Jersey. But 
for three or four years little more was heard of this new 
invention. 

Between 1828 and 1830 the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, 
which had wooden rails with a flat strip of iron on top, was 
built for a distance of sixty miles out of Baltimore; its destina- 
tion was the Ohio River. At first the cars were drawn by 
horses, although unsuccessful experiments had been made 
with sails. In August, 1830, a small engine, called "Tom 
Thumb," built by Peter Cooper, of New York, made its first 
trip over thirteen miles of this road. The "Tom Thumb" 
could follow sharp curves and climb steep grades, whereas 
the English railways were quite straight and almost level; 
and it could go much faster than any of the English-built 
engines. It was, therefore, better adapted to the conditions 
that existed in this country. Progress had been slow, but it 
had been sure; and inventors were much encouraged over it. 

1 " A History of the United States, for Grammar Schools," by 
Reuben G. Thwaites and C. N. Kendall. Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany. 



254 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

By the end of 1831 several American railways, which before 
this had been using horses, were experimenting with steam 
locomotives. . . . 

262. The crudeness of early railways. In the early years 
of the railways, however, their methods and equipment were 
very crude, compared with what we are used to. For instance, 
it was not at first thought to be possible to cross the Alleghany 
Mountains with steam locomotives. For a long time "portage" 
cars were hauled up or let down over the steepest parts by 
stationary engines. This system lasted until about ten years 
before the Civil War. The passenger who in those days wished 
to go farther west than Pittsburg, must, as in the time of the 
National Road, proceed by steamboat down the Ohio River. 

For many years nearly every little stretch of railroad was 
built and owned by a separate company. The rules and gauges 
— that is, the distances between the rails — of these various 
lines often differed greatly from one another, and there had to 
be frequent transfers of "through" passengers and freight. 
But little by little the "roads of steel " were combined into the 
great "systems" that now cross our entire continent in every 
direction, and give us what is on the whole the best railroad 
service in the world. 

Turning over to pages 404-406, we find the follow- 
ing:— 

371. The development of the West. The West, particu- 
larly the Mississippi Valley, developed rapidly during and just 
after the war. The spread of population westward was greatly 
aided by the introduction of labor-saving farm machinery. 
These inventions made it easy for settlers from the Eastern 
States and Europe to open and operate farms on the prairies 
and in the forests of the great valley. Congress also helped 
this expansion in two important ways: — 

(a) . . . . 

(b) By the gift (1862-64) of large tracts of land and the 
loan of millions of dollars in money to the Union Pacific and 
Central Pacific transcontinental railways to induce them to 
build across the thinly settled plains. 

At that time railway lines extended from the Atlantic Coast 
as far west as Omaha. If a traveler wanted to go beyond that 



HISTORY 255 

city he must do so by the overland stages along the California 
and Oregon wagon-trails. But the growth of Western popula- 
tion had now made it necessary to give the people better means 
of transportation to and from the region beyond the Missouri 
River. The Union Pacific began its line at Omaha and built 
westward. In most places it closely followed the old wagon- 
trail as far as the mountains. At the same time the Central 
Pacific was being built eastward from San Francisco, which is 
nearly two thousand miles from Omaha. In May, 1869, the 
two construction parties met each other near Ogden, Utah, 
and there, in the presence of a large crowd of spectators, con- 
nected their tracks by the driving of a golden spike. Thus was 
completed the laying of the first continuous railway line across 
the North American continent. 

East and West were now more effectually united than ever 
before. The most immediate effect was greatly to hasten the 
settlement of the Pacific Coast and of the broad plains lying to 
the east of the Rocky Mountains. Pioneers from the Atlantic 
Coast with their families, farm utensils, and live stock might 
hereafter reach the Far Western country, the trip requiring 
about a week, much more easily and quickly than their fathers 
and grandfathers, fiftj^ years before, could have reached Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin by means of the Erie Canal 
and the Great Lakes, or by the Ohio River. 

And further over, on pages 454 and 455, we read: — 

414. The Panama Canal. Ever since the Spaniards dis- 
covered the Isthmus of Panama there has been more or less 
talk of cutting a canal through it, so that ocean-going vessels 
might easily pass to and fro between the Atlantic and the 
Pacific. However, not until 1881 was such a project actually 
started. In that year a French Panama Canal Company com- 
menced operations; but after eight years they abandoned the 
task. 

For several years nothing further was done about the mat- 
ter. The United States then made her first move. A few 
months after Theodore Roosevelt became President (in 1901), 
our Government signed a canal treaty with Great Britain. 
It was agreed between the two nations that the United States 
should dig this canal. When completed, it was to be our prop- 



256 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

erty and under our control; but it must be open to "vessels of 
commerce and of war of all nations ... on terms of entire 
equality." Therefore, we bought the rights and property of 
the French company for $40,000,000, and are now, as rapidly 
as possible, completing the canal which they had begun. 

When this great work is finished, merchant and war vessels 
of the largest size, belonging to every nation of the world, may 
readily pass from one ocean to the other, and thus save the 
long and often perilous journey around South America. By 
this means our eastern and western coasts will be brought 
much nearer together than before; and the farmers and manu- 
facturers of the great Mississippi Valley may then ship their 
goods direct to every port on the Pacific. 

Note. The distance across the Isthmus, from ocean to ocean, at 
the site of the canal, is but forty and one half miles. In 1903 the 
United States acquired from the Republic of Panama a wide strip 
of land on either side of the canal, called the Canal Zone, which is 
governed by a commission appointed by the President. 

Remarks. Let us return to our first paragraph and 
explain it. Prior to the introduction of railroads people 
were compelled to get along with water transportation, 
stage, etc., and had done so for generations. Then they 
began to recognize that this was a very slow method and 
looked around for a new one. This was their problem — 
to get more rapid means of transportation. The solution 
of this problem was found in England where a steam rail- 
road had been constructed. This idea was brought 
across the Atlantic and tried at Hoboken, New Jersey; 
and from that point it spread rapidly all over the country. 
How did this solution work.^ Certain good results fol- 
lowed as mentioned in the text. 

These conditions lasted for a half -century or more and 
became old conditions, but the people began to see 
the defects of even railway transportation after a while. 
It did, to be sure, cheapen transportation, where water 
carriage was not possible, since it displaced expensive 



HISTORY 257 

transportation by means of horses. But it was much 
more expensive than water transportation. So a new 
problem arose — that of improving the waterways. 
One attempt at solution is the Panama Canal. There 
were, at first, several defects in the plan. In the first 
place, the United States did not own the Isthmus of 
Panama; England had maritime rights there, and the 
French had some equity in an old canal. This gave rise 
to a number of problems which were solved in the follow- 
ing series: (l) A treaty with England satisfied English 
claims. (2) The United States secured from the Repub- 
lic of Panama control of the Canal Zone. (3) There- 
after they purchased the French equity in the old canal. 

What the results of the Panama Canal, as a means of 
cheapening transportation, will be, is not yet known, be- 
cause it has not yet become history; nor do we yet know 
its defects. That there will be some, giving rise to new 
problems and new solutions, is certain, unless history 
fails to repeat itself. 

A New Method of handling Events. The usual plan 
of studying an event is to note its cause, describe the 
event, and list its results. A better method is to handle 
the event as the solution of a problem, and to have the 
six following topics under which to discuss it: (1) Old 
conditions; (2) Defects (giving rise to a problem); (3) 
Problem (to cure defects) ; (4) The event (the attempt 
at a solution); (5) The success of the solution; and (6) 
The defects of the solution itself. 

The first selection quoted would then be outlined as 
follows : — 

Event: Introduction of Railroads 

(1) Old conditions — Water transportation and horse power. 

(2) Defects — Slowness and limitations. 



258 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

(3) Problem — Improvement of transportation. 

(4) Event — Introduction of railroad, then used in England. 

(5) Favorable results — (depicted in the quotation). 

(6) Defects — Greater expense compared with water trans- 

portation. 

The second quotation may be continued as a part of 
the foregoing beginning with (3) : — 

Problem — Cheapening of transportation. 
Event — Construction of Panama Canal. 

1. Treaty with England. 

2. Treaty with Panama. 

3. Purchase of French equity. 
Favorable results — (not yet known). 

— (not yet known). 



The particular topics selected are not fitted to this 
scheme in any peculiar way. Any event can be handled 
in the same manner if desired. 

Summary. Events in history are merely solutions of prob- 
lems. These problems arose because people were dissatis- 
fied with their conditions and tried to improve them. Each 
event, then, may be studied under the six headings given 
several times in this section. 

Dates. Not many dates should be required of the 
pupils. The important ones have been mentioned above. 
In these particular lessons the following dates are given 
in the quotations : — 

1826, Introduction of the steam railroad in the United 

States. 
1901, Canal treaty with England. 
1903, Treaty with Panama. 

The children may be expected to know these dates on 
the day of recitation, unless there are too many to learn. 



HISTORY 259 

This the teacher should decide upon, and advise the 
children which to remember. Perhaps these can be con- 
densed to two: 1826 and 1903. But in a later review 
none of these ought to be required of the pupils, because 
none are of first importance. It is sufiicient to remem- 
ber that railways were introduced early in the nine- 
teenth century, and that the Panama Canal was begun 
about 1900. 

StmiMARY. Only a few important dates should be mem- 
orized. 

Assignments. Country children have to study their 
lessons without having much time spent upon the assign- 
ment in class. The teacher, crowded for time, cannot 
read the lessons over with them in class before they 
study them. But the teacher can help them by giving 
them assignment problems to study. These may follow 
the scheme presented above. That is, the children may 
be expected to study each event under the six headings 
given above. They may read each topic and look for the 
old conditions, the defects, what happened, and its suc- 
cess, etc. This makes a very good sort of assignment 
and has the advantage of being used over and over again, 
so that the children do not need to have it written out 
for them each day. 

Drill. One particular thing needs to be drilled on in 
every lesson. That is not dates, but names; for one great 
reason for the failure to retain history is the failure to 
remember names. Teachers often allow a child in a rec- 
itation to speak of " that fellow back there " or '* some 
man whose name I can't remember," and children often 
take a sort of pride in confessing this ignorance. It is 
often a current joke to pretend that they cannot pro- 



260 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

nounce the names; but if a boy cannot remember a name 
any further than to say, " that fellow back there," he is 
going to remember little of what happened. It should, 
therefore, be expected of all pupils that they pronounce 
all important names correctly and without hesitation. 
A teacher who does not require it is too lax in his require- 
ments. Such a standard set up early in the year and 
adhered to works rapidly in bringing the children up to 
the requirements; for if they see that they are expected 
to master the names they will comply. 

Pupils should be required to know important facts in 
any lesson on the day for which it is assigned. The im- 
portant facts are those that are closely connected with 
the problems studied. For instance, they ought to know 
the causes of the Indian Wars, the main events in them, 
and the good and bad results, but little minor details 
should not be required of them. They should drill upon 
these enough to remember them in class. In reviews at 
the end of a history period, these facts should be in 
mind. When a review of several periods is to be made, 
perhaps only the events and their results on the history 
of the country need be remembered. As the period re- 
viewed becomes longer and longer, the less important 
facts need not be required of the pupils. When a bird's- 
eye view of American history is taken, only the great 
facts should be reviewed. But there are facts that 
should be drilled upon till they can never be forgotten. 
What these facts are every teacher must decide for him- 
self, for nobody has worked them out well enough to 
suit everyone. 

Summary. The recalling of events to be remembered for all 
time should be made automatic. The important facts for 
each day's recitation should be required, but all the facts to be 



HISTORY 261 

remembered to-day need not be required of the pupils at the 
end of the year. There is one standard for recitation and 
another for reviews. Names in particular should be drilled 
upon till pronounced with correctness and facility. 

Realness in History. We have said repeatedly that 
the more vivid and concrete history is made, the better 
for both interest and understanding. 

Several things, as we saw in geography, assist children 
in getting clear images of what is not present. For 
instance, in the transportation quotations, anecdotes 
showing how long it took people to travel from one 
place to another, how much it cost, and the difficulties 
in the way of all travel, will assist in making the children 
see the vitality of the people's interest in railroads. 
These stories are not contained in the history lesson 
quoted and need to be collected, if possible, by the 
teacher. However, it can be best done by the author, 
which brings us back to my earlier statement, that the 
textbooks in history should contain a thousand pages 
instead of four hundred, and should not, even then, 
take up so many topics that full treatment may not be 
given to those selected. 

To aid the teacher in getting this material, reference 
books and historical stories should be placed in the li- 
brary. Such lists are given in books referred to at the 
end of the chapter. 

Then, too, pictures are an aid to a more vivid descrip- 
tion of events. Pictures of forms of early transporta- 
tion, by stage, by horseback, by wagon, and by steam- 
boat, and of the early railroad trains, all lend interest; 
and later, pictures of the Panama Canal and an intimate 
study of its construction. 

Maps, too, lend their aid. A map showing trans- 



262 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

portation routes both by rail and by proposed ocean 
way, are essential in the topics studied. 

Relics, costumes, models, and sandtable representa- 
tions are other means of getting clearness in these sub- 
jects. 

Summary. The best way to get vividness in history study 
is by means of detailed stories and anecdotes which make the 
situation concrete. Maps, pictures, and other forms of re- 
presentation assist. The aim is to get the boy to see that 
history is merely Ms-story — a story into which he can throw 
himself with dramatic intensity, living over again the scenes 
as they were once lived by people of the past. 

Current Events. We spoke above of the fact that 
history is of use chiefly in giving us information as to 
how to act wisely and efficiently to-day in the face of 
conditions that confront us. This has to be accom- 
plished by the teacher, since textbooks are not often 
constructed with that in view. In the lesson on the 
railroads I purposely introduced the Isthmian Canal, 
because, while it comes 200 pages later in the book, it 
can very well be taken up earlier and along with the 
railroad lesson, because it does give just the up-to-date 
connection that is necessary. 

This tendency can be emphasized by having current 
events as a topic in the history work. Little inexpensive 
weekly papers, like " Current Events," summarize world 
happenings and keep the children informed about every- 
day matters. This is important, not only because they 
ought to know what is happening, but because it makes 
it possible to use the history in explaining these events; 
for it is hard to connect history with modern events if 
no one knows what events are occurring. 



HISTORY 263 

4. Class Mechanics 

History Notebooks. Notebooks in the hands of 
some teachers have done more to kill interest in history 
than any other single factor. There are some teachers 
who use history note-writing as their only kind of " busy 
work " to keep their pupils from getting into mischief. 
Such action is criminal. If notebooks are used in his- 
tory, the contents should never consist of more than 
mere outlines. For if these books are to be used to re- 
call facts, it is evident that the details can be secured 
from the text, and the outlines are all that need to be 
remembered. 

Some outline notebooks have many good points, such 
as those in which there are blank maps to be filled in, 
but not much of the space intended for writing should 
be used. 

Summary. Since notebooks are of use only for remembering 
important points, notes should be notes, and not treatises. 

Written Work. Most of the work done in history 
should be oral. Some writing is of use in fixing points in 
memory, but not much should be required, because, like 
excessive notebook work, it deadens interest. It is 
better to allow a boy to devote the time that would 
otherwise be used in writing too much, to reading widely. 
For, undoubtedly, he absorbs much from reading his- 
tory books, even if he cannot remember much of it in 
sufficiently definite form to state in words. 

Topical Questions. As in other subjects, so in history, 
questions should as far as practicable be topical. Let 
me illustrate from the paragraphs quoted upon the Isth- 
mian Canal. The following questions might be asked: 



264 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

(1) Why did the people of the United States want a 
canal? (2) What was their first move? (3) What did 
the treaty say? (4) What happened next? (5) What 
is the Canal Zone? 

Here are five questions which might be shortened to 
two. (1) Why did the United States want to build the 
Panama Canal? (2) What were the events that happened 
before everything was finally ready to begin? 

A moment's consideration will show that the second 
two questions will produce much better thinking and 
will give better ability in talking correctly than will the 
first five. In the first group the teacher does all the work. 
In the second two, the pupil does somewhat more nearly 
his share. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Brigham. Geographic Influences in American History, pp. 200- 
09. (Relation of geography to history of Civil War.) 

Kemp. An Outline of Method in History, pp. 81-101. (Relation 
of geography to history.) 

McMuRRY. Special Methods in History, pp. 74-85 (the devel- 
opment method); pp. 238-68 (the course of study); pp. 
269-91 (lists of reference books). 

RoARK. Method in Education, pp. 208-13. (Class mechanics.) 

RocHELEAU. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, pp. 176-82. 
(Illustration of study of types.) 

Sanders. Management and Methods, pp. 262-67. (Devices 
in history teaching.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Select the three most vivid accounts of historical events 
that you can remember having read or heard. How did the 
narrators secure this vividness? 

2. Name ten modern problems upon which history will 
throw light. Treat one of these intensively to show what his- 
tory has to say about it. 

3. Take the reading books of the first six grades in a school 



HISTORY 265 

with which you are familiar, and list the topics in history with 
which they make the children acquainted. 

4. What additional topics in history will they pick up 
incidentally from reading material at their disp©sal in the 
school library? Does this reading give the pupils all they ought 
to get of history in these grades? 

5. Give five recent instances in which facts and principles 
have been emphasized for you by their being illustrated with 
stories. 

6. Describe any attempts of which you know to teach his- 
tory as a separate school subject below the seventh grade. 

7. What facts in American history should an eighth-grade 
pupil be expected to remember, if he is not going on to the 
high school? 

8. What local history sources are there in your home com- 
munity? What people could give such information? Are the 
stories thej^ have to tell worth recording and keeping? What 
historic spots are there that need to be preserved? Mention 
some relics that might be collected. What are you going to do 
about it? 

9. Make a list, from the readers in the school with which 
you are most familiar, of poems and prose literature (not 
history selections) that will explain and make more interesting 
certain events in history. 

10. Select five lessons from your history text, and outline 
them according to the problem solution plan that is proposed 
in this chapter. 

11. What modern problems could you set in connection 
with each of the foregoing lessons? 

12. What magazines and papers other than local papers do 
you read regularly? Are you proud of the list? If not, what 
can you do about it? 

13. In each of the five lessons above make out a few topical 
questions. 



CHAPTER XI 

CIVICS 

Function of Civics. The function of civics teaching 
in school is to enable students to get an intelligent view 
of the machinery of government. If this subject fails to 
give the pupil a sense of his responsibility as a citizen 
and a voter, to increase his efficiency in the performance 
of his civic duties, or to have for him anything more 
than a superficial appeal, then, though the knowledge 
gained from it will have some use, the time spent upon 
it will hardly be justified by the results. 

Governmental Machinery. There are three classes of 
governmental machinery: local, state, and national. 
Each of these performs different duties, and a citizen 
has some participation in each. For instance, he votes 
for people to represent him in Congress, in the state 
legislature, and in the local offices. He may also pay 
taxes to support local, state, and national institutions. 
In the first two cases, the tax is a direct tax; in the third, 
the taxes are indirect. 

It is not necessary to give the details of the machinery 
of government here, since they can be found in every 
textbook on civics. But, as our purpose in this chapter 
is to deal with problems in the teaching of the subject, 
we shall lay emphasis upon a few pedagogical points. 

National Government. Civics is frequently studied 
in connection with history, and with good results; for in 
history we see the growth of the institutions and agen- 
cies that govern the nation, and the causes that have 



CIVICS 267 

made them as they are, and we realize that even though 
they may not suit everyone, they are in the main the 
best for the whole nation. 

However, the machinery of which we get the best 
view in the study of American history, m the schools, is 
the National Government. We see how the constitu- 
tion was framed, we study its clauses, we get an under- 
standing of the powers and duties of Congress, of the 
federal judiciary, and of the President. Less attention 
can be paid to state government and still less to the 
local government, because the history studied is a na- 
tional history, and only incidentally a state or local 
history. 

The best place, then, to study national government 
is in correlation with history, because it shows the de- 
velopment, and growth, and general fairness of the 
national constitution and laws. 

When governmental functions are studied in history, 
however, care should be taken that the pupils are not 
left with a purely abstract hold upon it. They should 
know who the leading officers are, such as their congress- 
man, state senators, the President, etc. They should be 
acquainted with methods of election, the story of the 
attempts to pass amendments to the constitution, and 
such other facts as those interested in voting need to 
know to exercise intelligent suffrage and citizenship. 

Local Government. But it must be acknowledged by 
everybody that the average citizen is touched much 
more closely by local government than by state govern- 
ment, and more closely by state government than by 
national government. And it is here that civics studied 
merely in relation to history has its great weakness. 
The government that touches the pupil least is given 



268 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the most attention, and that which is closest to him is 
studied least. 

Points of Emphasis. Because of this weakness, there 
should be considerable study of local and state govern- 
ment apart from history. This may seem difficult in an 
overcrowded program; but, if necessary, one history 
period a week may be set aside for this purpose. Or, at 
certain times in the year, — for instance, when school, 
local, and state elections occur, — several history hours 
may be set aside for the study of civics. 

Systematic Study. In such periods a systematic 
course in civics may be studied. The local officers of the 
county, village, and school district in which the pupils 
reside may each be examined from day to day and an 
effort be made to establish a systematic understanding 
of the whole system. And the same thing may be done 
for state government. 

Civics has, unfortunately, the same difficulty to con- 
tend with that any systematic study has. It may not 
get into close contact with the pupils' lives. When they 
get through, they may not know what to do in concrete 
cases with which they are confronted from day to day. 

Concrete Problems. So instead of a systematic study, 
the following plan may be substituted : Begin with some 
concrete problems that may face the pupils, and study 
governmental machinery to see how it is handled. A 
number of illustrations will make this clear, and show 
how easy the method is in application. The only require- 
ment is that some governmental problems that are in- 
teresting to the pupils shall be selected. 

Eighth-Grade Civics. Since government by anyone 
except the school and the family is an interest that 
arises late, local civics should not be studied below the 



CIVICS 2G9 

eighth grade, which is the last year of school. If one were 
sure that the children would finish the high school, it 
would be better to leave civics till that time, because 
they would then be interested in a larger number of 
civic problems. However, since most country boys and 
girls do not go to the high school, and since some knowl- 
edge of local government is necessary, and since they 
can get it better in school than by a hit-or-miss collection 
of facts later outside school, it is advisable to teach it in 
the eighth grade. 

School Taxes. A teacher is safe in beginning the 
study of one^ branch of government with the school 
tax. The tax is a sure point of interest, because all know 
the reluctance with which people, and especially farmers, 
pay taxes; and their sons and daughters have enough 
acquaintance with this to make them likewise interested. 
The school they are well acquainted with, and so the 
combination of school and taxes is interesting. 

No set of problems is the best. A teacher may make 
up any list that he prefers. The following is a series 
that is intended to be merely suggestive and to apply 
particularly to Missouri. The questions might be: — 

(1) How much money did it take to run this school 
district last year.? This necessitates getting the informa- 
tion from the district clerk, and the class thus meets with 
its first official. 

(2) Where does this money come from.? This leads to 
a consideration of the sources. These are: — 

(a) Local levy. 

(6) State apportionment. 

(c) County tax. 

(d) Tuition. 

(3) If (6) is taken up, this question may be asked: 



270 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

How is the apportionment made? This gives a fine op- 
portunity in Missouri to show what happens if a child 
misses school for a day, and will give, also, a chance 
to see where the state revenue that is apportioned comes 
from. 

(4) If (a) is taken up, many questions arise, such as 
Who determines the levy? What is the limit of levy? 
Suppose you ran a nine-months school, how much 
would the levy have to be increased? Or, If you build a 
new building at a cost of $800, what might the levy be? 
How does your present levy compare with the levies in 
the nearest towns? 

These questions lead back to assessed valuation and 
the study of the assessor as a public officer. 

When you pay your taxes, to whom are they paid? 
This gives an introduction to the collector. 

Many other problems of a like sort can easily be ar- 
ranged by the teacher, and may be pushed as far as de- 
sired. Their advantage is that when the pupils have 
finished such a study, they know many points of govern- 
ment that they will have to deal with every day. 

When annual school meetings occur, they should be 
used by the teacher as the basis for a study of questions 
of organization; and eighth-grade pupils should be en- 
couraged to attend such meetings. 

Miscellaneous County Officers. A few questions 
will show the concrete method of approaching the 
subject of county officers. 

(1) The Recorder. If you wanted to buy a piece of 
land, but were not sure that the title was clear, how 
would you find out about it? If one wishes to be mar- 
ried, to whom will he go to get a license? 

(2) The County Court, Who fixes the county tax levy? 



CIVICS 271 

If you did some work for the county, to whom would 
you present your bill? Who looks after the county poor 
farm? If you wanted to open a new road, to whom would 
you apply for permission? Then, a study of the method 
of appointing the county court could be made. 

(3) Coroner. If some person were found dead on the 
road, who would be notified? 

(4) One question may bring in several officers; as, if 
a man is suspected of murder, who handles the case? 
These officers would include the sheriff, the prosecuting 
attorney, methods of trial by jury, etc. 

(5) Surveyor. If you have a dispute with a neighbor 
about a line fence, what officer can settle it for you? 

As said above, these are only a very few suggestive 
questions. But they illustrate a method that works very 
well in practice both for local government, as has been 
illustrated here, and for state government as well. How- 
ever, if I had forty lessons to spend on civics in a year, 
I would spend at least thirty on local government, and 
not more than ten on state government. 

Use of Books. Such a course as outlined would not 
follow any text, but it would need several books easy to 
secure. One of these would be the adopted textbook. 
To this should be added a few other single copies of 
other texts on civics for the library. Several copies of 
the school law should be available. (State Statutes are 
probably too cumbersome for use and too hard in many 
cases.) With these books available, that teacher who has 
never tried the plan will be surprised to see the amount 
eighth -grade boys and girls can dig out of a school law 
for themselves, if the teacher will show them how to use 
the index and direct them in their searching. It is, of 
course, a well-known fact that country pupils can do 



272 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

more for themselves than city pupils. The reason is 
that they have to, because they are not able to summon 
the teacher to their assistance whenever they feel that 
they need help. 

How can a List of Problems be secured? The way in 
which I secured these problems to-day was to take a 
book on civics, look up all the ofiScers and see what the 
duties of each were. Then I asked some simple ques- 
tions that would illustrate how these officers came in 
contact with the pupils. For instance, I found in the 
text that ** the recorder of deeds keeps a record of all 
deeds, mortgages, and other documents having to do 
with the title or ownership of property. ... It is also his 
duty to issue and keep a record of all marriage licenses." 
Other questions than those I asked might have been 
selected, but I selected these as an introduction, chiefly 
because they are of general interest and are pretty sure 
to appeal to boys and girls. 

The plan of making questions is, therefore, very 
simple. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

RocHELEAU. Intermediate and Grammar Methods, pp. 183-88. 

(General.) 
Sanders. Management and Methods, pp. 268-79. (List of 

problems for study of national government.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

The exercise for this chapter would consist of the selection 
of all state and local officers and the asking of questions that 
are close to the children and that illustrate the duties of these 
officers. 



CHAPTER XII 

ARITHMETIC 

1. Subject-Matter 

Function. We have seen in each chapter that each 
subject taught in school has a specific function to per- 
form, a function that no other subject can fulfill. In this 
chapter we shall see that arithmetic is no exception to 
the rule. For while geography assists us by taking care of 
climate and physiography, while spelling looks after the 
order of letters in words, and while history arranges the 
past for us, — so that we can get from each subject 
what we need, to control things of value, — arithmetic 
furnishes its share of assistance by handling number, or 
quantity, for us. Whenever we have to decide how many 
or how much, arithmetic will tell us. 

This is, of course, very important because we do all 
our buying and selling by quantity — when we build a 
house, we need to know how much material and how 
many dollars it will take. We use number to arrange the 
school program for a day ; so many minutes for the reci- 
tation, and so many for study. The housewife has to 
deal with quantities in the kitchen, in the dining-room, 
and in the parlor. Everybody every day he lives makes 
use of arithmetic almost every hour in the day. 

Number has been such a fascinating subject ever since 
it was first studied centuries ago, that in every age since 
there have been many brilliant men studying it, and 
these men have laid down a great body of rules and prin- 
ciples that help to explain and control it. It is easily 



274 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

possible to spend all the working days of one's lifetime 
studying the subject and still find that there is more to 
learn about number. 

Until a few years ago, all teachers of arithmetic laid 
great stress upon the use of arithmetic as a fine means 
of training one to think accurately, and they claimed 
that if a child learned to think accurately in arithmetic 
it would help him to think accurately everywhere. But 
many recent experiments have shown that while the 
study of arithmetic may make pupils think more accu- 
rately in arithmetic, it has very little effect upon their 
thinking in other fields. For instance, a good student of 
arithmetic may be quite illogical in politics, or may not 
think clearly when he tries to trade a horse. So it is bet- 
ter for teachers, when trying to explain the function of 
arithmetic, to lay but little stress upon this point and to 
deal only with its intrinsic function. 

Summary. The function of arithmetic is to enable people to 
handle numbers, so that they may do those things which they 
like to do and which depend upon a knowledge of number for 
their accomplishment. The indirect functions are not of 
importance outside the subject. 

Course of Study. However, in the country school, 
only a very small fragment of all these facts are studied. 
Young children cannot, of course, understand it all, nor 
are they interested in it all. They need to know only the 
very simplest parts. 

Then, too, the average grown person uses only a very 
few facts of mathematics. For instance, if you will try- 
to remember how much arithmetic you use in vacation 
time when you are not in school, you will find very little. 
If you estimate the amount a woman uses in her work, 
you will find that she uses only a very few facts. A 



ARITHMETIC 275 

farmer uses more than his wife, but all that he uses is 
very simple. 

Since most children, therefore, are interested only in 
very simple arithmetic, and will use only simple arith- 
metic when they grow up, it is not necessary to teach 
many number facts to them. 

Content of the Course of Study. But when we come 
to consider just what topics are necessary and advisable 
in arithmetic, we meet with difficulty. The old arithme- 
tics had many topics in them that were not necessary 
in practical life, but the people who studied them as 
children feel that these are old friends and must not be 
discarded. So, as soon as anybody talks about eliminat- 
ing this thing or that, the friends of the particular topic 
under consideration rise up and explain why it should be 
retained. 

But progress is being made. For instance, cube root 
is now dropped out of most textbooks, going the way of 
alligation, the rule of three, tret and tare, and some 
other things our fathers used to study. 

David Eugene Smith, an authority on the subject of 
the teaching of elementary mathematics, says that the 
following topics are all that need to be studied in the 
grades for practical purposes (though he would add 
others for cultural purposes) : — 

For the ordinary purposes of non-technical daily life, we 
need little of pure arithmetic beyond (1) counting, the knowl- 
edge of numbers and their representation to billions (the 
English thousand millions); (2) addition and multiplication 
of integers, of decimal fractions with not more than three 
decimal places, and of simple common fractions; (3) subtrac- 
tion of integers and decimal fractions; and (4) a little of 
division. Of applied arithmetic we need to know (1) a few 
tables of denominate numbers; (2) the simpler problems in 



276 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

reduction of such numbers, as from pounds to ounces; (3) a 
slight amount concerning addition and multiplication of such 
numbers; (4) some simple numerical geometry, including the 
mensuration of rectangles and parallelepipeds; and (5) enough 
of percentage to compute a commercial discount and the 
simple interest on a note. 

The table of troy weight, for example, forms part of the tech- 
nical education of the goldsmith, the tables of apothecaries' 
measures form part of the technical education of a drug clerk 
or a physician, equation of payments may have place in the 
training of a few bookkeepers, but for the great mass of people 
these time-consuming subjects have no bread-and-butter 
value. How many business men have any more occasion to 
use the knowledge of series which they may have gained in 
school, than to use differential calculus? The same question 
may be asked concerning cube root, and even concerning 
square root; most people who have occasion to extract these 
roots (engineers and scientists) employ tables, the cumbersome 
method of the textbook having long since passed from their 
minds. A like question might be raised respecting alligation, 
only this has happily nearly disappeared from American 
arithmetics, although it still remains a favorite topic in Ger- 
many. Equation of payments, compound interest (as taught 
in school), compound (and even simple) proportion, greatest 
common divisor, complex fractions, and various other chap- 
ters are open to the same inquiry. These subjects, which are 
the ones which consume most of the time in the arithmetic 
classes of the grades after the fourth, are so rarely used in busi- 
ness that the ordinary tradesman or professional man almost 
forgets their meaning within a few months after leaving school. 

Of compound numbers, which occupy a year of the pupil's 
time in school (a year saved in most civilized countries except 
the Anglo-Saxon, by the use of the metric system), the amount 
actually needed in daily life is very slight. The common 
measures of length, of area, of volume (capacity), and of 
avoirdupois weight are necessary. One also needs to be able 
to reduce and to add compound numbers, but rarely those 
involving more than two or three denominations. For practical 
purposes a problem like the following is useless : Divide 2 lbs. 
7 oz. 19 pwt. by 5 oz. 6 pwt. 12 gr. 



ARITHMETIC 277 

Most of the problems of common fractions are very uncom- 
mon. In business and in science, common fractions with 
denominators above 100 are rare, the decimal fraction (which 
has now become the "common" one) being generally used. 

What, then, should be expected of a child in the way of the 
utilities of arithmetic? (1) A good working knowledge of the 
fundamental processes set forth on page 21 ; (2) accuracy and 
reasonable rapidity, subjects which will be discussed later in 
this work ; and (3) a knowledge of the ordinary problems of 
daily life. Were arithmetic taught for the utilities alone, all 
this could be accomplished in about a third of the time now 
given to the subject.^ 

Summary. Only those processes which have practical value 
should be taught in the grades. This means that many topics 
now taught should be eliminated from the course of study. 

When to teach Arithmetic. There is a growing ten- 
dency to delay the teaching of arithmetic as a separate 
subject. In every grade, in connection with other sub- 
jects, and particularly in the primary grades if the 
handicrafts are taught and games are played, much 
arithmetic is picked up incidentally. But this arithmetic 
is learned in correlation with other subjects, and is not 
learned in a separate class. All schools used to start 
arithmetic in the first grade. More recently many schools 
are leaving it till the second grade, and a few do not 
begin it till the third grade. Some authorities advise 
postponing it until the fourth grade. 

The argument for leaving it till later is the same 
argument that is used for deferring the study of gram- 
mar. It is claimed that systematic arithmetic is too 
hard for little children, and that if you wait till they 
are more mature they will learn it more rapidly and will 
understand it better. An inexperienced rural teacher is 

1 " The Teaching of Elementary Mathematics," by David Eugene 
Smith. The Macmillan Company. 



278 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

almost compelled to follow the texts adopted, but he 
should if possible leave the teaching of the subject in a 
separate class till the second grade at least. The chil- 
dren's time that is devoted to arithmetic in the first 
grade can be better spent upon handicraft work, in 
playing games, and in reading. Indeed, so far as arith- 
metic is concerned, they are picking it up all the time 
when they study handicrafts and play games, if the 
work is wisely selected. Arithmetic, in my opinion, can 
be safely left till the fourth grade, if textbooks are 
written with the intention of teaching it from that point 
on to the eighth grade. 

Summary. Separate arithmetic classes should not be taught 
in the first grade; it is better to defer them to the second 
grade; and probably it would be better to begin arithmetic 
in the fourth grade if our textbooks were built with that in 
view. 

Standards. A student has a good hold upon arith- 
metic when he is able to perform the operations with 
accuracy and speed. Of the two, of course, the former is 
the more important; but the latter is also quite impor- 
tant and is sought after just as rapidly as accuracy will 
permit. 

Since speed and accuracy come with practice, an 
important part of instruction in arithmetic is drill, a 
topic to be discussed later in the chapter. Recently some 
standard tests have been worked out in arithmetic by 
two investigators, — Courtis and Stone. One of the 
series is on the market in sets, and the literature may be 
secured by writing S. A. Courtis, 441 John R. Street, 
Detroit, Michigan. Some of the tests are for the funda- 
mental processes, and some for reasoning. They test 
both speed and accuracy. 



ARITHMETIC 279 

The advantage of trying these test forms is that they 
are used widely all over the United States, and afford 
a basis of comparison among schools. They are of use 
in comparing pupils in the same school. But they are 
particularly useful in comparing a pupil with himself. 
A pupil may be tested in multiplication to-day, and his 
score determined. Perhaps this score is low; if so, the 
pupil may be set to work to see how much speed he is 
able to acquire in a month. Then, at the end of the 
month, he may be given the same test, and his improve- 
ment or lack of improvement noted. On the other hand, 
the pupil may have a high average in the first test, but 
at some subsequent time his work may become careless. 
If then the teacher repeats the test, the falling off will 
be brought home to the pupil pretty clearly. 

These tests are good for the teacher, because by 
testing the whole school at the beginning of a month 
and at the end, he can see whether the pupils are advanc- 
ing as rapidly as they might. County superintendents 
might use them, also, to compare the pupils at the begin- 
ning and the end of a school term. 

Summary. Definite and standard tests should be given to 
pupils from time to time to note excellence and improvement. 

2. Motive 

Immediate Interest. As in all subjects previously dis- 
cussed, so, in arithmetic, there are pupils who enjoy the 
work for its own sake and who take much pleasure in 
the solving of arithmetical problems. To such pupils, 
the subject is said to have immediate interest. 

One reason why many pupils do not like arithmetic is 
because it is too hard for them. This, in turn, may be 
due to three causes: The work may have been begun 



280 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

before they were old enough to understand it. Or, they 
may have gone over the work too rapidly to make num- 
ber facts into habits. Or, too many catch questions and 
intricate problems may have been given them. 

Hence, if there is any desire to keep or to get children 
interested in the subject, the work should be gone over 
carefully and slowly, and it should be simple enough 
to keep the pupils from growing discouraged. There is 
no reason in the world why every problem in the book 
should be assigned to every pupil nor why every problem 
should be assigned to anybody. The hard ones should be 
left for the bright children. 

Interest and Generic Values. As in the other subjects, 
so in arithmetic mediate interest may be secured by an 
appeal to grades, to promotion, to desire to please, and to 
the other values that may be called upon in all subjects. 

Interest and Specific Function. In arithmetic as in 
other subjects, the teacher may appeal to the specific 
function of the subject. In this case we know that the 
function of arithmetic is to give us a hold on numbers 
so that we can do things we want to do. So the teacher 
needs only to find things that the pupils like to do, and 
that at the same time involve the use of numbers. A few 
of these will be discussed. 

Handicrafts. Boys like to work with tools, but no one 
can get very far in making things without measuring 
lumber and computing sizes. Little children in model- 
ing, paper cutting, and raffia work, also need to count 
and to measure. Hundreds of cases of the use of sim- 
ple problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, 
division, and fractions arise in the course of the year 
in the lower grades; and somewhat more complicated 
operations occur in the upper grades. 



ARITHMETIC 281 

When such operations occur in work which is enjoyed 
by the pupils, they perform them with interest, and 
sometimes without even thinking or knowing that they 
are working arithmetic. It often happens in the higher 
grades that boys who have never liked arithmetic begin 
to take an interest in it and to show marked proficiency 
when they have found it of use at some time in manual 
training. 

Plays and Games. It is a well-known fact that such a 
game as dominoes gives pupils marked ability in adding 
and subtracting. This game played with little cards 
which have the domino marks on them may safely be 
played by two children in school on the top of a double 
desk, unless certain benighted parents object too stren- 
uously. 

Other simple games, such as " Odd or Even," 
*' Hully-gully handful,*' bean bag, and ring toss, come 
quickly to mind as games that are played during school 
hours in many schools. To these may be added a num- 
ber of games that are played out of school, games which 
the teacher may teach the children. These include 
crokinole, flinch, marbles, numerical modifications of 
" Simon says thumbs up," and so forth. 

These games have, of course, many other values in 
education, but we discuss them here only in relation to 
arithmetic. A selected list is appended in a reference 
at the end of the chapter. 

Practical Problems. Interest attaches itself to arith- 
metic when problems taken from the life of the pupil at 
home are chosen. Agriculture in the country furnishes 
hundreds of these problems. Measuring land, stacks of 
hay, and bins of wheat, estimating the cost of lumber 
for a barn, the percentage of gain due to spraying, the 



282 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

rations for cattle and horses, and the profit in beef- 
raising are a few that show the richness of this source 
of interest. 

The use of these will obviate the criticism of business 
men and others that when children get through school 
they may know some arithmetic but they are unable to 
use it in ordinary practical situations. 

Arithmetic texts are giving more and more of these 
problems every year, but a bright teacher does not need 
to depend upon them. He can make up problems for 
himself, and he ought to do so if he wants his work to be 
efficient. 

Summary. Immediate interest in arithmetic may be present. 
If not, an appeal may be made to generic values or to other 
subjects, such as the handicrafts; to plays and games; and to 
interesting problems, — all administered in such a way as to 
give arithmetical practice and intelligence. 

3. The Study of Arithmetic 

Elements of Arithmetic Teaching. There are just 
three things that the teacher has to do in arithmetic. 
He has to see that the pupils understand the processes 
in arithmetic, such as addition, subtraction, etc. ; he has 
to be certain that they drill on these enough to gain 
accuracy and rapidity; and he has to help in the solu- 
tion of problems in which one or several of these pro- 
cesses are involved. That is all there is to arithmetic: 
an understanding of the processes, skill in repeating and 
working them, and reasoning in problems in which they 
are involved. Or, in a word, the three essential elements 
are teaching the processes, drill, and reasoning. 

Teaching the Processes. There are three facts of 
importance in teaching the processes of arithmetic. The 
first is that when children begin to study arithmetic 



ARITHMETIC 283 

they know a good deal about it in a concrete form, and 
that they have to learn to use symbols. For instance, a 
pupil, if given one apple and then another and asked 
how many he then has, will probably be able to state 
that he has two; but he has after this to learn the sym- 
bols that express the abstract relation implied — that is, 
1+1=2. 

To learn to think by symbols instead of by objects 
is a very long step for children to take. This fact con- 
stitutes the reason for using objects in teaching number 
to children, since we are anxious to have them see that 
symbols are not meaningless things but stand for some- 
thing about which they already know. 

Objects should, then, be used until the pupils can get 
along without them, and an effort should be made to 
get them to do this as soon as possible; they must not, 
however, be hurried. Whenever a new process is to be 
taught, objects, diagrams, etc., that will make it easier 
to understand, should be used until the new work is 
mastered. Often a diagram will help an eighth-grade 
pupil to understand a problem when, for a long time, 
he has been able to perform addition and multiplica- 
tion without objects. But the general principle holds 
that when objects have bridged the gap between con- 
crete quantity and numbers, they should be discarded 
to keep the children from relying too much upon 
them. 

The second fact in teaching the processes is that where 
the process is too hard for the pupils to understand, but 
not too hard for them to use, it should be given to them 
without explanation. For instance, if square root is 
taught in the eighth grade, it is unwise to explain why 
we double the quotient and multiply by the new quotient. 



284 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

etc., because that cannot be understood until the pupils 
have some knowledge of algebra. 

On the other hand, if a pupil can easily be taught the 
reason for a process, it ought not to be taught to him 
mechanically. For instance, we might tell a pupil in 
carrying in addition to put down the right-hand digit 
in the sum and carry the other digits to the next col- 
umn to the left. But it is so easy to teach carrying by 
means of bundles of splints that it is criminal not to 
do so. 

In short, we may lay down the general principle that 
when children can easily learn the reasons for a process 
they should be taught it; but that, when the reasons are 
not easy to understand, the teacher should have no 
hesitancy in teaching mechanically. 

The third fact is that in teaching rules and principles, 
induction may frequently be used to good advantage. 
For instance, in such a lesson as the addition of fractions, 
after the children have learned to add fractions with the 
same denominators and are to be taught to add frac- 
tions with unlike denominators, the teacher, instead of 
telling how to do it, might begin the lesson by giving 
a few drills on J+f , |+f , etc. ; and then J+ J may be 
put on the board and the children asked to add them. 
Since they cannot, the teacher may then say, " I shall 
put three problems on the board to show you how it is 
done, and you may work out the rule for me: " — 

1_1_1_ 3 I 4 _1+3_10. 



Here is the presentation of three particular cases, 
which the pupils compare, and from the comparison 



ARITHMETIC 285 

they reach a generalization, without having formulated 
the principle of reduction. 

After they have discovered how it is done, the 
teacher may take up the reason underlying the process, 
in order to insure the pupils' getting something more 
than a merely mechanical grasp of the rule. The induc- 
tive method can be used in very many cases; and when 
it is used, the pupils take much more interest in the 
process than if they are just told it. 

Summary. In teaching the processes three things need to be 
borne in mind. These are: first, that pupils have to learn 
(slowly) how to use symbols instead of objects; second, that, 
in teaching processes, the reasons for them may be given where 
they are not difficult, but that the teacher should not hesitate 
to teach them mechanically when an explanation is too diffi- 
cult; and, third, that the inductive method should be used as 
much as is practicable. 

Reasoning. Problems involve the use of the arith- 
metical operations. In one problem there may be 
involved addition, subtraction, percentage, or any other 
combination. Reasoning consists merely in selecting 
the processes which will solve the problem. After these 
have been determined, all that is needed is skill in 
carrying on the operations. For instance, in a problem 
like this, // two boys mow a lawn in two hours, how long 
will it take three to do it, working at the same rate ? — rea- 
soning consists in deciding that it will take two-thirds 
of the time. After that, all that is left to do is to perform 
a simple operation in the multiplication of fractions: 
f X 2 hours = l| hours. 

This task of selection requires a good degree of men- 
tal brightness and is rather difficult at times. So teach- 
ers should, sometimes, help pupils to analyze difficult 
problems. 



286 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

Solving Problems. The form that this analysis takes 
is based upon psychology; that is, upon the way the 
mind acts in solving problems. A very simple statement 
of the mental actions involved in solving problems will 
make this clear. 

I remember that once I was given this problem to 
solve : — 

A man sends $3037.50 to a commission merchant to invest 
in wheat at I per cent commission. How many dollars' worth 
of wheat is bought.'^ 

I figured as follows: — 

If the rate of commission is I per cent, then the amount of 
commission is ?JtjX $3037.50, or $37.97, and the amount in- 
vested is $2999.58. 

But, on second thought, I found that, if this were 
invested at s per cent commission, the amount would 
be $37.49, which did not agree with the commission as 
worked out on the other basis. So I figured again, 
and after one or two other trials arrived at the idea 
that to invest $100 it was necessary to send $100,125, 
and hence the amount to be invested would be 

To'(LTi3X 3037.50, or $3000. making $37.50. 
Then I checked up and found that $3000 invested at 
i per cent was $37.50. So I concluded that this answer 
was correct. 

Finally, when I knew it was correct, I wrote out a solu- 
tion in good form for the teacher as follows : — 

$100,125 must be sent in order to invest $100. 
$3037.50 must be sent in order to invest 
loV.hzX $3037.50 = $3000. 
.'. $3000 must be invested. 
Check. $3000 at i per cent commission = $3000X. 125 = 
$37.50. 
Amount sent = $3037.50. Correct. 



ARITHMETIC 287 

If we analyze what was done, we find the following 
factors : — 

(1) I had to know what was to be found. In this case 
the amount invested. 

(2) I needed to know what data were given. These 
were $3037.50 sent, commission i per cent. 

(3) I tried two plans of solution before I found the 
right one. 

(4) I checked to see if I was right after trying each 
plan. 

(5) I wrote out a systematic statement. 

This is what we always do when we have to work 
hard problems. Logic applies some technical terms to 
these factors which it is well for us to know. The 
logician would say that in solving a problem we need 
first, to define our problem; second, to find out the data; 
that is, what is given; third, to make several hypotheses 
(or guesses) ; fourth, to verify the hypotheses; and, fifth, 
to make a logical organization. 

For our purposes in arithmetic, more familiar terms 
may be used. And we may say that what we have to do 
are the following : — 

(1) State what is to be found. 

(2) State what is given. 

(3) Work out a solution. 

(4) Check. 

(5) Make a systematic statement. 

These five steps will take care of the analysis of any 
problem. Take, for instance, a problem like this: — 

If milk is 28 per cent cream, and the cream is 35 per cent 
butter fat, and the butter fat will make li times its own 
weight in butter, how many pounds of butter can you get 
from 100 lbs. of milk? 



288 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

If we analyze it, we may make the statement as 
follows : — 

(1) To find: Amount of butter from 100 lbs. of milk. 

(2) Given : Milk is 28 per cent cream, cream is 35 per 
cent butter fat, 1 lb. butter fat makes Is lbs. butter. 
Given also: 100 lbs. milk. 

(3) Working out a solution. 

(4) Check. 

(5) Systematic statement: — 

100 lbs. milk = .28X100 lbs. cream = 28 lbs. 
28 lbs. cream = .35X28 lbs. butter fat = 9.8 lbs. 
9.8 lbs. butter fat = 9.8X| lb. butter = 11.025 lbs. butter. 
Check: 11.025X |X W X W = 100. 

In connection with this I wish to make a few re- 
marks. 

First. The statement that pupils make of a solution 
should be written neatly enough to be easily read. The 
teacher and pupils should decide on what they think 
are the best forms for statements, and the pupils should 
thereafter adhere pretty closely to those. But — and this 
is very important — a pupil should not be scored heavily 
if he is not successful in making a statement, provided 
he gets the answer. Many teachers lay so much stress 
on statements that children come to hate arithmetic. 
The answer is the important thing in ninety-nine cases 
out of a hundred; the other case is the occasional 
chance that a pupil has hit upon the answer by accident 
and does not understand how he found it. Statements 
should be insisted upon, I think, only in seat work, 
and in other cases where the teacher is in doubt about 
the pupil's ability to solve the problem. 

There is no best statement. Any one of a number 
will do, and children coming from other schools may 



ARITHMETIC 289 

have different ways of expressing their solutions. At 
such times the teacher should go slowly and patiently 
in teaching them the forms current in their new surround- 
ings. Statements should not be cumbersome. Each 
step in the solution of a problem should be as brief as 
possible, and I should be willing to accept the following 
statement for the milk problem as correct and sufficient : 

8 

It shows the teacher that the pupil knew what to do and 
did it. 

Second. The directions for solving a problem need 
not be written out by the pupils in every problem. It is 
cumbersome, but pupils should probably be taught to 
follow that plan. That is, they should be taught, first, 
to look for what is to be found; second, to find the data, 
etc. When these directions about solutions are being 
taught, they should, occasionally, be written in order 
to help the memory until they can be repeated by heart; 
but after that it is sufficient if the pupils are able to give 
a statement of the steps from memory when called 
for. 

Third. The third step, that of guessing, is a good 
thing for the pupils. (By guessing is meant an intelli- 
gent guess, not a wild guess.) They should not be shown 
at once how to get the right solution; but, rather, they 
should be given time to work the problem for themselves. 
However, children in country schools have to do more 
of their work for themselves than do children in city 
schools where the teacher has more time to spend on 
them. That fact explains why country pupils who are 
good students are more independent in their thinking, 



290 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

and more self-reliant than are city school children. They 
are compelled to work things out for themselves, trying 
over and over again till they get the right solution. 

Summary. There are five steps in solving a problem in 
arithmetic. These are: (1) determining what is to be found; 
(2) stating what is given; (3) working out a solution; (4) 
checking; and (5) making a final statement. The statement is 
not always essential and should not be allowed to kill interest. 
The pupils should be given a chance to work a problem for 
themselves before being shown how; and, in working their 
problems, they should use a systematic procedure, such as the 
five steps above, because that has been found to be the 
natural way for the mind to act when working most effectively. 

Drill. To work problems is the final goal of arith- 
metic, but no pupil will have much success or happiness 
in this task unless he knows the fundamental operations 
so well that he can perform them rapidly and accurately. 
If, in the milk problem above, he makes mistakes in 
multiplying .28X100 or .35X28 and finds everything 
coming out wrong, he will grow discouraged and self- 
distrustful. 

To get accuracy and rapidity we need drill. It is all 
a matter of habit, the laws of which we have taken up 
over and over again. Arithmetic is no exception to the 
rule. What is needed is, first, a clear initial understand- 
ing. The pupils must know the facts of addition, sub- 
traction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, 
and percentage, to begin with. Care must be taken to 
see that they are taught clearly. Then follows attentive 
repetition. The children must have exercises of various 
sorts that work for speed with accuracy. Every time 
the teacher finds that the pupils are making errors in 
their problems or doing them slowly, he should make it 
an occasion to point out the fact, perhaps to make fun 



ARITHMETIC 291 

of them in a kindly way, so that they will realize the 
necessity for drill. 

One of the best means of drill is mental arithmetic. 
It has been shown by experiments that time is gained 
in the end by having some mental arithmetic every day. 
In the country school five minutes may be given to the 
upper classes. This drill should be conducted slowly 
enough at first so that at least three fourths of the pupils 
can give the correct answer. The speed should then be 
increased as the class improves. 

Another good means to make the pupils interested in 
drill is to give tests for speed, such as the Courtis tests 
or others made out by the teacher. Occasionally stim- 
ulate the pupils to beat their own past records. If, for 
instance, on March 7th a boy has a score of 64, he can 
be interested in running it up by April 1st; and if he 
finds that he has increased to 67 he will try to beat it 
by April 15th. This racing against one's self is the most 
stimulating form of rivalry that can be used. 

Then, there are many devices to be used in class, such 
as memorizing tables, multiplying the numbers on the 
dial of the clock by various multipliers, etc. These and 
other devices are mentioned in references at the end of 
this chapter. 

But through it all, drill work must be snappy and 
quick. To get this, ground must not be covered too fast. 
But, just as calling words in reading is due to the failure 
of teachers to insist upon fluent reading from the first 
grade up, so slow arithmetic work is due to flabby and 
slovenly standards of speed and accuracy. 

Some teachers cannot be good teachers of arithme- 
tic because they have none of that good old household 
remedy, ginger, in their make-up. A class with an easy- 



29i2 TEACHING, THE COMMON BRANCHES 

going teacher will be just as spirited as the teacher, and 
no more. If a football coach does not put snap into his 
team, it is beaten and he feels chagrined. But if a 
teacher does not put snap into his arithmetic, nobody 
knows about it. He is able to cover up his slovenliness. 
It would be better for him if he were in the limelight 
like a football coach. 

When a boy has learned his operations so well that he 
can add a column of figures correctly while thinking 
about a piece of watermelon, he has reached perfec- 
tion; for he has reached the goal of all habit, to be able 
to perform the habit while thinking about something 
else. 

Summary. Drill is a prime essential in arithmetic. After 
an operation is understood, it should receive snappy drill at 
frequent intervals, until it becomes automatic. Various 
methods of stimulating interest are suggested. 

Application. To work problems is, as we have said, 
the goal of arithmetic instruction. These problems may 
come from two sources. The teacher and textbook may 
supply them, or the pupils may make them up; and both 
sources should be used. Problems should be practical. 
There is no use in teaching processes that do not have 
practical application. So, if the text used in the schools 
does not contain many practical problems, then the 
teacher must secure other texts that have them. And, 
in addition, he should make up problems, a task quite 
easy if the teacher knows anything about farm life. 
The criticism is constantly made that pupils may know 
arithmetic but that they are not able to cast up an 
account, to write a receipt, to draw a note, write a check, 
coi^pute interest, measure a field and tell how many 



ARITHMETIC 293 

acres are in it, estimate the amount of money necessary 
to build a shack, or determine the number of bushels 
in a bin or corn crib. Nor can we deny this accusation. 

To cure the defect, the teacher should study the farm 
and make a hst of the things that farm men and women 
use in their everyday Hves; this list should thereafter 
be kept on file. Then, from day to day, as occasion 
arises in school, these items should be brought in, as 
practical applications of what is being taught in the 
arithmetic class. 

Pupils should be encouraged to bring practical prob- 
lems to school for the class to work upon. What is more 
interesting than for John, when his father is going to 
build a cattle shed, to get the dimensions, etc., from his 
father and have the class work out the cost of the lumber 
and timbers? John may not bring all the data to school 
the first time he tries; but when he finds that the class 
cannot work his problem because he has forgotten some- 
thing, he will receive a valuable lesson in carefulness and 
will take pains to get the proper statements next day. 
If none of the pupils on their own initiative bring 
problems, the teacher, when he hears of the construc- 
tion of a building or the selling of cattle, as he will hear 
in a country community, should embrace the oppor- 
tunity of getting live material for arithmetic and ask 
some boy or girl to get the data for him. 

Summary. To solve problems and especially practical prob- 
lems, is the final goal of all arithmetic study. The teacher 
should, therefore, see that the pupils are given this type of 
problem, and should avoid " factory-made " problems which are 
constructed by textbook writers for the sole purpose of giving 
exercises on arithmetical operations. Pupils, likewise, should 
be encouraged to bring practical problems to school. 



294 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

4. Class Mechanics 

Tables. The critical point in the mastery of the four 
fundamental operations — addition, subtraction, multi- 
plication, and division — is the learning of the tables. 
For, although a pupil may be able to recite the tables 
glibly and still make many errors in carrying on the 
operations in problems and exercises, he wastes time and 
loses accuracy if he does not know them glibly. 

The chief advantages of knowing the tables auto- 
matically are two. In the first place the tables give a 
rhythmical drill. There is such a fascinating swing to 
them that children who are learning them often repeat 
them for the fun of the jingle, just as they repeat nur- 
sery rhymes for the rhythm. Yet from this singsong 
repetition there is much good; for the child is saying 
over and over to himself 6x7=42, all the time fixing 
the facts and working toward that goal which is attained 
when 6x7 automatically suggests 42. The second 
advantage of welj-memorized tables is the hold it gives 
on individual i^cts. For instance, Willie may have 
trouble in remembering whether 8x7=54 or 56, But 
he always remembers, let us say, 8 x5 =40. So by start- 
ing at 8x5 =40, he can get into the swing of the table; 
and when he gets to 8x7 he at once remembers that, of 
course, it is 5Q. 

Eight seconds is a reasonable time to take in repeating 
a table. This requires that they should be memorized 
until the pupils are able to repeat them without halting. 
It takes just a little more practice to raise halting tables 
to glib tables, but that little makes or mars their useful- 
ness, for halting tables are of no more use than no 
tables. 



ARITHMETIC 295 

Tables should be memorized in three ways; forward, 
backward, and by " skips." The first and second can be 
done by the pupil himself. By skipping is meant taking 
the facts out of their order in the tables; for instance, 
instead of saying, 8x1=8, 8x2 = 16, etc., the order 
may run: 8x5 = ? 8x9 = ? 8x2 = ? etc. This comes in 
exercises such as 8467x8 or in special drill exercises 
given by the teacher as in the clock-face exercise. The 
aim of the drill upon tables is to make the pupil profi- 
cient in skipping; because in problems, only once in a 
great while do we get a problem as nearly like the table 
as 1234X8. 

Summary. Tables should be memorized thoroughly back- 
ward, forward, and by skipping. They should be learned for 
all the operations, because they provide rhythmical drill and 
assist the pupil when he forgets individual facts. But to be 
of any use they should be memorized so thoroughly that they 
can be recited without halting and with the glibness of "eenie 
— meenie — minie — mo." 

Assignments. Assignments are easier to make in 
arithmetic than in history or literature. For, as we saw 
in those subjects, the teacher often has to make out 
assignment problems, but in arithmetic the problems 
are already made out. 

But this one fact must be emphasized. Children 
should not be expected to learn new operations from the 
textbook. These should always be developed in class. 
A teacher may, for instance, give as an assignment a 
chapter on addition of fractions which has not been 
studied before, and expect the children not only to add 
fractions, but to learn the operation for themselves. 
This is wrong. Addition of fractions should be assigned 
after it has been learned in class. 



296 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

In history the new assignment cannot always be 
read in class, and pupils may work upon it for themselves 
in preparation for the next recitation. But history is 
easy, while arithmetic is hard; so the teacher must help 
the pupils to understand the arithmetic by taking it up 
in the recitation period before they work any problems 
in it by themselves. 

Examinations. Examination questions should not be 
too difficult. For what is desired in arithmetic is not 
the ability of a Newton, but skill in solving reasonably 
difficult problems. So the hardest questions in the text- 
book should not be given to the whole class with the 
expectation of their solving them all. Some pupils may; 
but it shows poor judgment to expect all to do so. 

Tests in speed as well as in accuracy should be given. 
That is, once in a while a test should be given in which 
children are called upon to work problems as fast as 
they can for five minutes. The teacher then reads the 
papers and grades upon the largest number of accurate 
answers. This is what is done by the Courtis tests of 
which we spoke above. 

Answers. When I was a small boy, we always had to 
look in the back of the book and find the answer before 
we were sure that our solutions were correct. My 
teachers did not know about checking. But since then 
the check has been introduced and is now used by all 
teachers. Checking is better than answers in the back 
of the book, because pupils can decide the correctness 
of their solutions for themselves. Nevertheless, in my 
opinion, teachers make mistakes in discarding the an- 
swers altogether, because, evien if the pupil is required 
to check, it is of considerable interest to him to find out 
whether or not he is right before he begins to check. In 



ARITHMETIC 297 

many problems, the simpler ones, he may not want to 
consult the answers ; but in complicated cases the check- 
ing may be long and tedious, and it is only human to 
give him the chance to get the opinion of some one else. 

Neatness. Children have to do a deal of '' figuring " 
in working problems and exercises, and because this is 
not systematic it is difficult to preserve a reasonable 
amount of neatness. 

This difficulty gives rise to extremes in standards. 
Some teachers require the children to be so neat on 
their scratch paper that they have to keep thinking 
about being neat all the time and cannot put their whole 
attention upon the working of their problems. Because 
Mary is a little girl is no reason why she is not carried 
away by the whirlwind fascination of a new scheme for 
working a problem, just as you or I grow enthusiastic 
over some new idea we have just thought of for the first 
time. Then, to be held back by having to do things in 
exactly a certain way is just as hard upon her as it is 
upon you or me. 

Other teachers go to the other extreme, and allow 
pupils to hand in slovenly work. Their pupils' work is 
illegible and inexact; for illegibility in arithmetic and 
inaccuracy almost always go together. 

Between the two extremes lies the desirable method. 
There should be two standards. Scratch work need not 
be so neat as work that is to be handed in. Ordinary 
politeness requires that we should make what others 
are to read as legible and pleasing to the eye as we can. 
This fact should be impressed upon the pupils ; and in all 
work that others are to read, the papers should be rewrit- 
ten if the first draft is not neat. By the use of sepa- 
rate "figuring "paper, the pupil can make his first copy 



298 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

acceptable. In other words, pupils should not do their 
figuring on the same sheet on which they make their 
written statements; and the latter should be done with 
reasonable neatness the first time. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Arnold. Waymarhs for Teachers, pp. 204-17. (General.) 

McMuRRY. Special Method in Arithmetic, pp. 148-79. (Illus- 
trative lessons.) 

Perry. Problems of the Elementary School, pp. 132-60. 
(Devices.) 

Smith. Number Games and Number Rhymes, pp. 4-28 (games 
involving number); pp. 68-93 (number games). 

Smith. The Teaching of Elementary Mathematics, pp. 98-144. 
(General.) 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. If you are not to explain arithmetic study as training in 
logical thinking, what good reason for it can you give.'* 

2. Select four topics taught in arithmetic which are not 
used by pupils or farmers in practical life. Show that even 
where they seem to be used they are actually not used or need 
not be used by people who could use them if necessary. 

3. Run through fifty pages of the advanced arithmetic in 
use in a school with which you are familiar and count the 
number of problems that are not mere exercise problems and 
are likely to occur in the lives of the people whom you know. 
How many problems and exercises are there altogether.? What 
percentage of the problems are practical? 

4. Keep track for seven days and see what arithmetic prob- 
lems you have to solve outside school work. What topics in 
arithmetic would you need to know to solve them all? 

5. Send for the Courtis tests and have yourself tested. Test 
a small class of pupils to learn how to do it. 

6. Inquire till you find five adults who, while in school, did 
not like arithmetic. What were their reasons? Were these 
reasons such that with wise handling they could have been 
overcome? If so, how in each case? 

7. What are the generic values that a teacher may use in 
getting interest in arithmetic? To what extent and when may 
the teacher use each? 



ARITHMETIC 299 

8. Select from the list of games that involve numbers those 
that you could use in the schoolroom. 

9. Go out into the community and find ten good, interest- 
ing (and not trivial) practical problems that might be given 
an eighth-grade class in arithmetic. 

10. Why should pupils learn arithmetical operations thor- 
oughly as they go along? What reason is there for thorough- 
ness in arithmetic that does not hold so strongly for history.? 

11. Analyze three problems in arithmetic according to the 
plan recommended in the text. 

12. Describe two problems outside arithmetic in which you 
had to try several solutions before you reached the right one. 
Pick out some great problem in history, and show the different 
solutions that different generations have tried. 

13. Collect ten good arithmetic drill devices from your own 
experience, from friends, and from the reference readings. 

14. To give mental arithmetic to a class in an eflBcient 
manner, what points must you observe.'^ 

15. If one knows his tables well, he should be able to repeat 
a multiplication table in eight seconds. Time yourself. Time 
a few of your friends. Time a few grade children. 

16. Did you, as a student in the grades, find that consulting 
answers hurt the quality of your arithmetic work? Why? 



CHAPTER XIII 

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 

School Content. Physiology as taught in the grades 
consists of anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. By anat- 
omy is meant the structure of the organs of the body; 
by physiology is meant their function; and by hygiene 
is meant their care. For instance, in a study of the 
teeth in school, there are three things to be considered: 
the structure of the teeth — root, neck, and crown; den- 
tine, cement, enamel, and pulp {anatomy) ; the function 
of the teeth — mastication {physiology) ; and methods 
of preventing decay {hygiene) . 

Function of School Physiology. When I was a boy, 
school physiology consisted chiefly of anatomy; that is, 
of a study of the different parts of the body. We learned 
all the bones of the body, the structure of heart, lungs, 
digestive organs, etc. A little attention was paid to 
the function of these different organs. We learned, for 
instance, that the function of the heart was to pump 
blood through the system; of the lungs, to remove im- 
purities from the blood and in return provide it with 
oxygen, and so on. But comparatively little time was 
spent on this. Almost nothing was said about the hy- 
giene of the organs, except that the evil effects of alcohol 
were graphically depicted. 

To-day the emphasis is wisely changed. The most 
important function of the study of physiology in the 
grades is to teach how to take care of the body. If rules 
of hygiene are learned so thoroughly that they will be 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 301 

applied in practice, the subject is well taught. No mat- 
ter how much anatomy or physiology is studied in school, 
it is of little worth if, from this study, there does not 
follow a set of rules of hygiene. It is interesting to know 
how teeth perform their function and what are the dif- 
ferent parts of a tooth, but this is not of importance 
enough to be taught unless it forms a basis for rules 
about cleaning and caring for the teeth. 

The relation of physiology and anatomy to hygiene 
is similar to the relation of grammar to language. In 
Chapters III and IV, we saw that we study grammar 
in the grades only for the purpose of teaching correct 
speech, and that grammar helps correctness of speech 
by showing why language rules are what they are — it 
gives the reason for the rules. In other words, anatomy 
corresponds to grammar; that is, the structure of the 
sentence, and parts of speech and their functions ; while 
hygiene corresponds to language, or the rules by which 
we speak correctly. 

This shows why we study anatomy and physiology. 
They explain the rules of hygiene. For instance, one 
rule of hygiene is, clean the teeth. This rule may be 
followed without question, because parents and teach- 
ers insist upon it. But many more children are more 
likely to do this if they know why they ought to clean 
their teeth. This, anatomy explains in part as follows: 
The crown of the tooth is composed of three layers: 
enamel, dentine, and pulp. In the pulp is situated the 
nerve. In the mouth are bacteria which, unless removed, 
will eat through the enamel and the dentine, exposing 
the nerve. Therefore, the teeth should be cleaned after 
each meal to get rid of decaying food which harbors 
these bacteria. 



302 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

It follows from this that no more anatomy should be 
taught than suffices to explain the rules of hygiene. The 
human body is so complex an organism that its struc- 
ture is not fully understood, even by doctors; and in 
school physiologies much more is taught than can be 
understood by children. If, therefore, we teach only 
enough to give the reasons for hygienic rules we may 
safely and wisely omit many names which are now given 
in most school physiologies. 

Summary. In the study of physiology and hygiene in the 
grades, the end to be attained is a knowledge of and practice 
in the rules of hygiene. The study of the organs of the body 
should be made in sufficient detail to explain these rules if they 
can be easily explained, and no parts whose connection with 
these rules cannot be seen by the pupils should be studied. 

Bacteriology. When I studied physiology in the 
grades, we heard little about bacteria because few peo- 
ple except the doctors knew of them, and the subject 
was not considered of great importance. But since that 
time a wonderful era of medical discovery has begun 
and is now growing by leaps and bounds. Then, every- 
body in my community thought that consumption was 
inherited; now we know that it is caught just like a cold. 
Then, yellow fever was a monster that could not be con- 
trolled; but to-day we know that it is caused by bacteria 
carried in the bodies of one kind of mosquito. Then, 
typhoid was not understood; but a short time ago a vac- 
cine was found that makes the body immune to typhoid 
germs, just as Jenner's vaccine has conquered the small- 
pox germ. And almost any day now we shall hear that 
the pneumonia germ has met its victor in a new serum. 
Mothers twenty years ago had to stand helpless and 
watch their children strangle to death with diphtheria; 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 303 

but to-day any doctor can provide the serum that kills 
the germ, and that would have saved those little snuffed- 
out lives had it then been known. 

So, of course, in school, physiology must lay stress 
upon these germs. They are, as we know, living organ- 
isms that grow rapidly and can be killed. We know 
that some, like the typhoid germ, are carried through 
liquids; that others, like the tuberculosis germ, come 
from the sputum that is spit up by patients, and that, if 
this is taken care of, no one need catch the disease. 

All this information is offered free by boards of 
health, by state universities, and by medical societies, 
in bulletins and in books. It is available for any teacher 
who will consult the nearest doctor or will write to his 
state university. There is no excuse for a teacher who 
is not interested enough to gather it ; there are number- 
less people and organizations not only able but anxious 
to provide such literature, and either a doctor or the 
state university will tell the teacher how and where to 
get it. 

Sanitation. A study of germ diseases such as tuber- 
culosis, typhoid, smallpox, or diphtheria leads at once 
to a study of sanitation. For, if conditions are made 
such that the bacteria cannot live outside the body, 
they cannot, of course, get into the body. For instance, 
if the sputum of a consumptive is spit into open vessels 
or on the streets, it will dry and float up into the air and 
enter the lungs of someone who is not strong enough 
physically to withstand the attack of these virulent 
germs. In this way the disease continues to spread. So 
we say that this is not a sanitary method of taking care 
of sputum. Or, to take another case, the school may 
have an open well which may have dead snakes and rats 



304 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

and other decaying animals in it,which produce disease 
germs. Or the well may be located on the slope below a 
cemetery, and all the poisons of decaying bodies may 
seep in. This is an unsanitary well. Again, the school- 
room may be poorly ventilated. Ten or fifteen children 
may breathe over and over again the same air, polluted 
with bacteria and heavy with carbon dioxide. This is 
unsanitary; for some of the children may be diseased, 
and the bacteria from their breathing may become thick 
in the room and be breathed in by other children, who, 
because there is so much carbon dioxide in the air and 
so little oxygen, are likely to be weakened, and thus 
made still more susceptible to the diseases that are in 
the air. 

Summary. To teach children to maintain sanitary condi- 
tions and abhor unsanitary surroundings is the most important 
duty of hygiene, because sanitation kills germs and keeps the 
body healthy enough to throw off most diseases before they 
get a strong foothold. 

Physical Exercise. As we have just seen, there are 
two things to be done in keeping healthy. One is to 
provide conditions that will kill disease germs, and the 
other is to keep the body healthy. It is particularly nec- 
essary to keep the body strong, because it is impossible 
to kill all disease germs. If the body is not weakened, 
it can frequently throw off the germs and keep them 
from getting a foothold in the system. For instance, I 
am told that post-mortem examinations reveal, almost 
invariably, scars on the lungs, so that we may infer that 
almost everyone at some time has a light attack of tuber- 
culosis. In such cases, however, the body has been 
strong enough to keep the germs from getting a danger- 
ous foothold. If by any chance the body is not suffi- 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 305 

ciently strong to withstand the onslaught of the germs, 
or if no measures are taken to cure the cold that is often 
the beginning of the trouble, the disease becomes more 
serious, and usually causes death. 

Plenty of physical exercise in the open air is neces- 
sary if one would keep healthy, because it keeps the 
body strong. However, country children do not suffer 
greatly because of lack of exercise. But occasionally, 
even in the country, there are boys and girls who do not 
get exercise enough, and the teacher should see that 
they do. Particularly is this true in poorly ventilated 
schoolhouses, where the six hours in school are a serious 
handicap to health. Teachers in such buildings should 
see that ventilation is as good as possible; and, to better 
conditions, they should, every little while, have the win- 
dows raised high, even in winter, and put the pupils 
through a series of exercises that will expand the chest 
and exercise, particularly, the muscles of the trunk. 

A study of physiology is not worth a snap of the 
fingers if the teacher does not apply its principles in the 
schoolroom. 

Summary. Physical exercises should be given frequently 
with the windows wide open, even in winter, if the schoolroom 
has a poor ventilating system. 

Method of Teaching. The average teacher has a 
physiology textbook to teach from, which very probably 
contains a good deal of physiology and anatomy. He 
ought to have in addition some textbooks and bulletins 
dealing with diseases, their prevention and cure. 

In teaching physiology, much the same plan may be 
used that was used in civics. That is, questions that lie 
close to the interests of the pupils should be raised, to 



306 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

be answered by the text or by supplementary read- 
ing. 

In securing these questions the teacher should read 
the material at the disposal of the class and write down 
those questions that he thinks will be of interest to the 
pupils. For instance, the textbook before me, which I 
have studied for a short time, has suggested a number 
of questions. I am not sure that they are all interest- 
ing to any particular class. That is a matter that would 
have to be determined by the actual presentation. But 
as I remember myself as a boy, it seems to me that they 
would have been interesting. 

This chapter that I have used is entitled "The Cir- 
culatory System." The questions that follow are not 
arranged in any logical order, but are given in the order 
in which they occurred to me. 

The first question I think of is, What makes a wound 
fester? This gives a chance to teach about white blood 
corpuscles and washing a wound with some antiseptic. 
When I was a boy we thought a wound festered if the 
blood was bad. Lister's discoveries, showing that if the 
wound was cleaned with an antiseptic there would be 
little danger of festering, had not yet reached us. Other 
questions follow without comment. Why is it that 
sometimes when you cut yourself, blood squirts out, 
while at other times it oozes .^ (This brings up the sub- 
ject of arteries and veins.) What color is pure blood? 
impure blood? What sort of liquid is in a water blister? 
Why is a drinker's face red? What happens in the body 
when people blush? Where is your heart? How does 
the heart do its work? Why do we stick pigs in the neck? 
How can we stop nose-bleed? (By pressing nostrils to- 
gether so that a clot will form.) What is there in the 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 307 

blood that enables it to clot? If a friend had a very se- 
vere wound in the arm or leg, how could you stop him 
from bleeding to death? How does what you eat get 
into the blood? How fast does the pulse beat? What 
makes it beat? 

The foregoing are only a few of the possible questions 
on this chapter. There are numbers of others which 
might occur to anyone else. Children themselves ask 
questions that give the teacher a cue which, if jotted 
down, will do for other classes in following years. 

Books and Bulletins. To teach this subject success- 
fully, a teacher must have a number of supplementary 
physiologies and bulletins collected from the sources 
mentioned above. This is necessary because very few 
textbooks on the subject lay sufficient stress upon hy- 
giene and sanitation. Ninety per cent of the country 
schools now use texts that emphasize anatomy and 
physiology and only incidentally take up hygiene. Even 
where the text does deal primarily with hygiene, it is a 
good thing to have several books on hand; for boys and 
girls like to read about physiology and hygiene if they 
can find it simply written and well illustrated. When 
boys and girls dislike it, the cause may be laid to poor 
teaching, and this can be overcome in part by the use of 
simple, interesting reading material. 

Drill. When a teacher has decided what parts of the 
human anatomy he will teach, the terms should be 
memorized by the pupils. If, for instance, heart, artery, 
vein, ventricle, and auricle are to be taught, they should 
be drilled upon. The pupils should be expected to be 
able both to spell and to pronounce them glibly. The 
rules for this have been discussed over and over again. 
First, by means of pictures and perhaps the examination 



308 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

of a beef's heart, the parts should be clearly understood 
and visualized. Then, there should be attentive repeti- 
tion until the terms have become automatic. If the 
pupils learn the terms well, they will be able to read 
health bulletins all their lives with intelligence ; and it is 
becoming more and more necessary for people to be able 
to do this. But, if the terms used are a jumble of indefi- 
niteness to them, they will form a distaste for all reading 
material upon the subject. 

Clearness. A little boy on an examination was once 
asked to name the parts of the body, whereupon he 
delivered himself in these astounding words: " The 
human body consists of the head, chest, and stomach. 
The head contains the brains, if any. The chest holds 
the lungs, liver, and lights. The stomach consists of the 
bowels, of which there are five — a, e, i, o, and u, and 
sometimes w and y.*' 

This boy was suffering from poor teaching, for the 
teacher had evidently not made a successful attempt to 
give him a clear picture of the inside of the human body. 

This is not a difficult thing to do if the teacher uses 
pictures and especially if he spends time enough upon 
the "geography" of the organs to enable the pupils to 
locate the different organs and parts of organs. Some 
schools have models of the human body, though these 
are expensive. Some have colored physiology charts. 
Other teachers, wherever practicable, secure some of the 
organs of pigs, chickens, and beeves. All of this illus- 
trative material is good and should be used as far as 
possible. But even with nothing but the pictures in the 
texts the teacher can teach the anatomy of the human 
body, if he will treat it as a geography lesson and have 
the organs and their parts located and drilled upon. 



PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE 809 

Physiology in the Course of Study. Physiology and 
hygiene may be taught either incidentally or system- 
atically. They should be taught incidentally every day 
by having the schoolroom ventilated, by having the eyes 
cared for, and by taking advantage of the many oppor- 
tunities for giving personal advice that come up daily 
in the school. When colds occur, methods of prevention 
and cure should be discussed with all the school. Mea- 
sles, whooping cough, and mumps, as they annually re- 
turn, should be the basis for instruction, the facts being 
secured from a doctor or from reliable books. 

In addition, in the seventh and eighth grades, the 
subject should be taught systematically and should 
alternate by years. In this systematic study the adopted 
text and supplementary books and bulletins should be 
used by both the teacher and the pupils. And at every 
point the topics should be closely and interestingly con- 
nected with vital questions in the pupils* experience. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Make up a series of twenty questions that can be answered 
by physiology, that you think will be interesting to seventh- 
and eighth-grade pupils. 

2. Work out a series of rules for the prevention of tubercu- 
losis. 

3. Give methods that can be used in preventing typhoid. 

4. How can ventilation be handled in the schoolroom in 
which you now work? 

5. What facts do you think it wise to have the pupils learn 
about the anatomy of the nervous system as a basis for 
hygiene? About the digestive system? In each case, what facts 
would you omit from those given in any textbook you know ? 

6. If you took charge of a school, what are the points about 
sanitation that you would examine? How would you go about 
the care of each of these if each was not satisfactory? 

7. To what extent and in what way may a teacher success- 
fully carry a health crusade into the homes of the children? 



CHAPTER XIV 

AGRICULTURE 

1. Subject-Matter 

Field of Agriculture. The subject of elementary 
agriculture as taught in rural schools consists of agron- 
omy, animal husbandry, horticulture, farm manage- 
ment, and good roads. Agronomy is a subject whose 
function is the investigation of soils and crops; animal 
husbandry is concerned with the breeding, judging, and 
care of animals. In horticulture, plants, trees, and 
vegetables are studied. In farm management, the most 
economical handling of crop production and marketing 
is considered; and good roads deals with the question its 
name signifies. 

The Value of the Study of Agriculture. The intrinsic 
function of each branch has been stated in the definitions 
above. To this function other values may be added. 
For instance, a study of agriculture should heighten the 
appreciation of agriculture and of farm life. To know 
that scientists are working upon the subject shows that 
it is of some worth. To learn new ways of doing things 
which appeal to common sense as practical lends inter- 
est; and the mastery of these methods produces finan- 
cial gain, which makes living on the farm attractive. 

In a broader sense, such an appreciation of agricul- 
ture, by making young farmer boys and girls interested, 
keeps them on the farm and tends to decrease the move- 
ment from the country to the city. The land-hungry 
cry of " Back to the Farm! " would then be changed to 



AGRICULTURE 311 

"Never leave the Farm! '* The advantages of country 
life have been painted in glowing colors by dwellers in 
both the city and the country ; but so long as roads are 
poor, labor is unintelligent, and drudgery is forever 
present, these pictures will have no weight with the 
boys and girls who feel keenly the defects of country life. 
A farmer always has to work hard; but if he sees that 
he can have full scope for the use of his brains as well as 
his hands, he will be much better satisfied. 

One of the chief aims to keep in view in the teaching 
of agriculture is to teach the children how to use agri- 
cultural bulletins. The simplest of these involves con- 
siderable knowledge of technical terms. But locked up 
in them is a vast quantity of useful knowledge. If the 
course in agriculture does no more than teach pupils 
how to get this knowledge out of the bulletin, it will have 
accomplished a world of good ; and if it does not teach 
them how to use bulletins, it has largely failed in its 
effectiveness. 

Summary. The intrinsic function of agriculture is to give 
information about farm problems. In addition to this, the 
studying of agriculture engenders interest in the subject and, 
by showing the pupils that farming is a matter of both brains 
and brawn, tends to check cityward migration. 

Course of Study. In the grades, the course of study is 
not and cannot be systematic. Here, if anywhere, the 
local necessities need to determine what parts of the limit- 
less field of agriculture should be studied. In the corn 
belt, one set of problems will be emphasized, in the 
wheat belt another, and in the cotton belt a third. In 
one locality poultry is an interesting subject, in another 
horses, and in another cattle. 

It has been the history of every subject taught in the 



312 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

schools that when first introduced it has been practical; 
but before long it has become systematized, and the life 
has been pressed out of it. We hope that a new day has 
brought hope for agriculture; for, as in this text, so 
every where, educators are now, as never before, laying 
stress upon the necessity for keeping grade subjects 
practical, and it is to be hoped that this greatest of rural- 
school subjects will be saved the chilling fossilization of 
its predecessors. 

To accomplish this, the teacher should use the text- 
book only as a means to the solution of problems. It 
should not decide for the teacher all the topics to be 
studied, nor the length of time to be spent on each. The 
writer of any given text lived in one locality and, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, made a text for that locality. 
But a class in a school a thousand miles away may live 
in a locality where other topics than those emphasized 
in the book are of greater importance. It would, in that 
case, be quite absurd to allow the text to determine the 
order of topics, or the time to be spent on each. 

The wise teacher will study his community to find 
out the chief local agricultural crops and the most 
pressing agricultural needs and, having decided which of 
these are of most importance, will map out a two years' 
course of topics for the seventh and eighth grades. Then 
the text and other supplementary books in the library, 
and the bulletins from the agricultural department at 
Washington and from the local agricultural college, 
should all be studied to see what they have to say on the 
subject. These sources should be put at the disposal 
of the pupils, and they should read them as indicated by 
the teacher. 

School gardens may be used for various purposes; but 



AGRICULTURE 813 

it seems to me that their chief use should be for the 
trying out of new kinds of plants that are recommended 
for use by the state or national agricultural stations. 
This will give great interest to the work and will be of 
positive economic benefit to the community; for if the 
school can demonstrate the use of a new shrub, or bulb, 
or breed of grain and can thereby have it tested and 
proved satisfactory for general use, the boys and girls 
and their parents will adopt it for general cultivation. 

The distinctive course in agriculture should be given 
in the seventh and eighth grades. It will be very easy 
for work in these two grades to alternate, because agri- 
culture is not a systematic subject, and the work of the 
seventh grade is not necessary as a preparation for the 
eighth-grade work. 

Summary. The topics in the course of study should first 
and foremost and always be practical. Agriculture must not 
be made a mere book subject; but it cannot be taught without 
books and bulletins, 

2. Motive 

Immediate Interest. As in all other subjects, so in 
agriculture there may be immediate interest in the sub- 
ject, or interest may have to be engendered. In this 
subject, however, the interest is essentially immediate 
to country people, because the subject is a matter of 
bread and butter to them. What is necessary to do is to 
pick out not interesting topics, but the most interesting 
topics. 

The great problem is to sustain interest. This will be 
hard to do if care is not taken to select easy reading 
matter, or to make difficult bulletins easy by making 
judicious selections from them. If care is taken to make 
all the work and all the reading practical and fairly easy. 



31* TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

the interest will be sustained. It must not be made too 
easy, because boys and girls do not like things that are 
too easy. If it is just hard enough to make them exert 
themselves in a vigorous and healthy manner, it will be 
most effective. 

Agricultural Clubs. Many schools and school officials 
use the club plan of work. Clubs are efficient agencies 
for inculcating enthusiasm in agricultural work. They 
are excellent agencies for social activity, for they supply 
a means of bringing boys and girls and young men and 
women together, so that in addition to the economic 
and financial benefits that accrue, fun and happiness 
abound. This is, in itself, a sufficient reason for their 
existence, even if nothing were accomplished beyond 
this. But in addition, the enthusiasm of numbers creates 
greater interest in tomato canning, corn husking, or in 
cotton planting and picking. What the singing-schools 
were to our fathers, these agricultural clubs may be, in 
part, to the children of this generation. 

Information concerning the different sorts of clubs 
that may be formed, may be secured by writing the 
Secretary of Agriculture at Washington, D.C. 

Correlation. Another means of heightening interest 
in agriculture is found in its correlation with the other 
subjects of the course of study. The first to come to 
mind is arithmetic. In Chapter XII, we showed how 
arithmetic would be benefited by the use of practical 
problems around the farm and home. Conversely, these 
problems increase interest in the farm and home, because 
the everyday drudgery is seen in a new light when it is 
made the subject of study in school. Language, also, may 
wisely make use of the topics of everyday farm life, and 
the value of these topics be thereby enhanced. 



AGRICULTURE 315 

Poetry may be used to good advantage. There are 
found in every set of readers a few classics that deal with 
farm life, such classics as " The Barefoot Boy " or 
"Pictures of Memory." But there remains to be gath- 
ered together by somebody a supplementary reader, 
rich and interesting, which contains nothing but poems 
about farm life and the value of agriculture. Perhaps 
no subject has received more attention from poets from 
the days of Horace and Virgil till now, but the farmer 
boy sees few such poems. Yet a knowledge of this 
poetry would be second only to the study of agriculture 
in teaching a rich and deep appreciation of farm life. 

Other subjects likewise may be correlated with agri- 
culture to the mutual benefit of both. 

3. Methods of Study 

Problems. In the study of agriculture we have a 
parallel with the methods described in the teaching of 
arithmetic. First, a good practical problem is set. For 
instance, this may be the picking out of ten good ears of 
corn. The children go to the corn pile or bin and experi- 
ment. The data that they use is their knowledge of 
what constitutes a good ear. They form hypotheses; 
that is, in this case, they examine one ear after another 
and finally select ten. These are checked up by the 
teacher, or some other corn judge, to see whether or not 
the selection is correct. Or the problem may be that of 
preparing a piece of ground for wheat. The data are 
the things the pupils know about the topic, and the 
material found in books and pamphlets. They think it 
over, discuss it, make suggestions, and finally arrive at a 
solution. To check, they have to wait until the wheat is 
grown ; and, after all other factors are taken into account, 



316 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

they are able to see that the yield is better because of 
the preparation decided upon. 

Collecting Data. The hardest problem in agriculture 
is giving the pupils data upon which to work. For in- 
stance, in the selection of ten good ears of corn the data 
are the things they know about good corn. This they 
have to learn from the study of agriculture. Or, in our 
second example, the data are the facts about a good seed 
bed as they are given in bulletins and books. This has 
to be sought for with great care and memorized with 
exactness. 

The best way of teaching these data is to take up 
problems first and teach a few data at a time. For 
instance, in corn judging, it is not wise to teach all the 
factors in a good ear at first, and then judge. Much 
better results will be gained by the teacher if he gives 
the pupils two ears, one of which has good kernels and 
the other poor, and then asks which has the better 
kernels. When they make their guess, the kernel factor 
may be studied until they know the difference between a 
good kernel and a poor one. Then they may test this 
out by ranking ears by kernels and by nothing else. 
Then when this has been mastered, two ears, one having 
a good tip, the other a poor one, may be given to the 
pupils ; and they may be asked to select the better tip, 
with reasons for their choice. This will lead to an expla- 
nation of the characteristics of a good tip. Then they 
may grade a group of ears by tips alone. 

In this way all the points of a good ear may be studied 
one by one : and after all are studied, the pupils may be 
put upon the problem of selecting good ears by the score 
card, including all the points. 

In this way the data — or, rather, the facts that gov- 



AGRICULTURE 317 

ern them — may be picked up one by one and used in 
testing until they are remembered, before giving other 
data. This method avoids the waste of pouring in a mass 
of facts before they are used or have a chance to be 
remembered. 

Summary. In gathering facts they should be taught little 
by little, as the solution to little problems. In this way they 
will be remembered more exactly. 

Intelligent Guessing. If pupils are allowed to work 
things out for themselves there is a gain both in interest 
and in understanding. For instance, if the teacher says 
the characteristics of the tip of an ear of corn are such 
and such, the result is not nearly so beneficial as when 
he says, "Which of these two ears has the better tip? " 
The latter method is better because the pupils then 
begin to think. This thinking may lead them to work 
out the characteristics of a good tip for themselves, or, 
if not, when the characteristics of the tips are given, 
their minds will be active and ready to take hold of the 
facts. 

Nothing is more deadening than to have everything 
told to one. Even if the pupils spend much time in 
guessing intelligently, no time is lost : for what they get 
they get well. Whenever a boy is given an interesting 
task of his own, no matter what, and is allowed to put 
his own initiative into it, he may make mistakes, but he 
is gaining experience in the best school of experience — 
in the world, the school of practical initiative. If a 
teacher does not tell too much and allows the children 
to get a few things for themselves, teaching will be full 
of fun for him and drudgery will fly away, for the strain 
of teaching comes from the daily lift of a burden of 



318 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

childish apathy. Give the pupil a chance to make intel- 
ligent guesses, and he will accept the chance to gain 
intelligent judgment. 

Summary. To guess intelligently is the highest type of 
thinking, and should be utilized to the full extent. 

The Study of Textbooks. It is, as said above, impos- 
sible to teach agriculture well without the use of text- 
books. By textbooks we mean, of course, both books 
and bulletins. The library should have a number of 
simple high school and grade texts upon the subject. 
Generous use of Farmers* Bulletins from the agricul- 
tural Department at Washington should be made. Se- 
lected bulletins published by state agricultural colleges 
should be placed in the library. 

When the teacher has selected a problem to be stud- 
ied, he should read all these texts on the topic and, after 
discussion in class, should assign certain pages in such 
of the texts as will give the pupils information. The 
business of the pupils should be to read these references 
to see what they can find to solve the problem under 
discussion. When the text is rather harder than they 
are well able to handle, some explanation and a very 
short reference, perhaps only to a paragraph, should be 
given. But it is surprising what seventh- and eighth- 
grade country pupils can get out of the most difficult 
bulletins when they have been trained to read them and 
to gather from them what they need. This is largely a 
trick of reading that may be taught with little difficulty 
and gained by a little intelligent practice. 

Experiments. Certain topics in agriculture lend them- 
selves beautifully to " laboratory " observation. The 
moisture-holding properties of soils may be illustrated 



AGRICULTURE 819 

by soils in lamp chimneys. The germination of seeds 
and their testing for planting may be carried on in the 
classroom. These and a hundred other topics may be 
treated with the simplest sort of apparatus in any coun- 
try school. What is needed is not expensive apparatus, 
but a wide-awake teacher. Suggestions for such experi- 
ments may be found in any textbook on agriculture. 

Class Trips. Some localities may object to the use of 
school time for field trips, and in rural schools the 
teacher can seldom leave the lower classes in school 
while taking the seventh and eighth grades out to a 
neighboring field or pasture. But at noon or before and 
after school, the agriculture class may very well be con- 
ducted through a cornfield or a cow pasture. In such a 
place, the class can see in the field what is being dis- 
cussed in the book, and can understand it much better 
than if it were merely talked about in school without 
being seen. 

Constant use should be made of trips and informa- 
tion based upon them. Sometimes, when the teacher 
cannot go on a trip, questions for observation may be 
set which the children will study at home, or on the way 
to or from school. In so far as agriculture takes the 
pupils to the open fields and teaches them to use their 
eyes, it is a very useful thing. 

Drill. The same rules for drill apply here as all the 
way through the textbook. Whatever is drilled should 
first be clearly understood and then repeated atten- 
tively until it becomes automatic. 

In agriculture, care must be taken to have all the 
work understood, and those things that the pupils will 
use when they are grown should be selected for drill 
and should be well drilled. Tables, the constituents of 



320 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

rations, and the points in corn judging are of such a 
nature. 

Conclusion. While much has been written upon agri- 
culture, little time has been given to the methods of 
teaching the subject. The important questions now dis- 
cussed are the methods of getting interest in the study 
and the selection of topics for study. In getting interest, 
the methods are simple as shown above; and there is no 
unanimity in the selection of topics because, as shown 
above, the topics must vary with each locality. 

The methods of teaching are, as has been shown, 
similar to those of other subjects which have already 
been discussed. The space given to the subject in this 
text does not denote its relative importance. It is shorter 
because in it principles are merely applied — principles 
for whose development space was taken in earlier 
chapters. 

REFERENCES FOR CLASS READING 

Bricker. The Teaching of Agriculture in High SchoolSy pp. 

122-65. 
McKeever. Psychologic Method in Education^ pp. 181-94. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Why should agriculture be studied in rural schools.? 

2. Why should it be studied in city schools.'* 

3. Name the five most important topics that could be studied 
in agriculture in your school community. 

4. What bulletins do you think would be of use? (In answer- 
ing this, write to the Department of Agriculture at Washing- 
ton, D.C., asking for a list of their Farmers' Bulletins if you 
do not have them. Write also to your local agricultural 
college for a list of their bulletins.) 

5. How much stress should be laid upon the fact that if the 
pupils study agriculture they can make more money? 

6. Describe the workings of any agricultural club for school 



AGRICULTURE 821 

children of which you know. If you know of none, write to 
the same address as in question 4 above, and ask them for 
any literature they have upon the formation of agricultural 
clubs. 

7. Name ten interesting poems dealing with farm topics 
and farm life. 

8. Describe an old-fashioned husking-bee or singing-school. 
Are young people different to-day from their fathers and 
mothers.? Could they be persuaded to come together for sim- 
ilar purposes? Why? If so, how? 

9. Name ten rather simple practical problems that you 
think would appeal to seventh- and eighth-grade boys or girls. 

10. How would you proceed in letting them work out these 
problems for themselves? At what points do you think assist- 
ance would need to be given in each? 

11. Name five practical problems that could be worked by 
visiting a field better than in the classroom without such a 
visit. 

12. Name five simple experiments that could be worked out 
in the classroom. What apparatus would each require? 



CHAPTER XV 

SUBJECT-MATTER 

Introduction. We are now in a position to gather to- 
gether the principles that underlie the teaching of each 
of the subjects already treated. 

These may be classified in four groups. There are 
certain principles that always may guide us in the 
selection of subject-matter to be taught. These will 
be discussed in this chapter. There are some general 
principles that deal with methods of making children 
interested, or of giving them a motive for study. These 
have been exemplified over and over again, and will be 
generalized in Chapter XVI. There are other general 
principles which have to do with the development of 
problems and the learning of subject-matter, which will 
be found in Chapter XVII. Finally, methods of assign- 
ment will be discussed in Chapter XVIII. 

The important part of the succeeding chapters is not 
the statements in the body of the chapters but the ques- 
tions at the end of each, which assist you in going over 
all the preceding chapters and systematizing them. 
Help in finding page references may be had by a lib- 
eral use of the topical index at the end of the text. 

The Function of Teaching. The aim that the school 
has in view may be stated in various ways. The particu- 
lar statement underlying our discussions is this: The 
function of teaching is to assist pupils to appreciate and 
control the values of life. This means that the school 
seeks to help pupils to do what they want to do. If they 



SUBJECT-MATTER 323 

want to learn to write, the school should teach them 
how. If they would like to learn to read, they should be 
assisted to control or master reading. But, in addition, 
the school is expected to teach them to appreciate 
what is worth doing. It should help them to discrimi- 
nate between what is worth doing and what is not, and 
should lead them to love the former and hate the latter. 
Children then should be assisted in school not only to do 
what they want to do, but also to want to do what is 
best for them to do. 

Function of Subject-Matter. The subjects taught in 
school, each in its own way, help the pupils to do this. 
We have found that the intrinsic function of spelling is 
to assist in the communication of ideas by attending to 
the order of letters in words. The function of writing is 
the same, except that it looks after the forms of letters. 
The intrinsic function of arithmetic is to help to get 
control of those values in which number is of use. The 
function of geography is to help control values by telling 
where they are and explaining in terms of place (climate 
and physiography) why they are there. 

In short, the intrinsic function of subject-matter is to 
assist pupils to control values. 

In so doing they learn to appreciate subject-matter. 
For if it helps them to control values, they will like it, and 
if it does not, they will not like it. 

Other functions of subject-matter are often given. 
Other reasons are brought forward for its study. We 
are told that study in school strengthens the memory, 
the imagination, and the reasoning powers. Some sub- 
jects, however, we study in order to get ready for the 
studying of other subjects; for example, we study alge- 
bra in getting ready for university studies. Finally, we 



824 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

study some subjects because ignorance of them will 
make people censure us. If, for instance, we speak un- 
grammatically, learned people may make fun of us. 

These reasons for the study of subjects in school are 
called the indirect functions or uses to which the sub- 
jects are put. They are not the intrinsic functions for 
which the subjects were organized. That is, when arith- 
metic was begun by people ages ago, the inventors did 
not say, "We must find some means for training the 
memory." They did say, " We want to find a means for 
handling number." But we find that when we handle 
numbers the memory is strengthened. So we speak of 
such results of study as indirect. 

There are three classes of indirect function. We speak 
of the first as the training or discipline of the mind. 
We speak of a second as a preparatory function when we 
find that by studying one subject we get ready for study- 
ing one more advanced. The third is known as a decora- 
tive function when it is discovered that by having stud- 
ied subjects we are considered well educated. 

The important point to be made in connection with 
all this is that if we can find no reasons for studying any 
subject except these indirect results, it is better not to 
study it. Each subject, on the other hand, is a tool fitted 
for its own peculiar work, and we ought to keep its in- 
trinsic and peculiar function in mind. 

Summary. The intrinsic function of subject-matter is to 
assist pupils to control and appreciate things worth doing. 
Each subject is fitted to perform a special bit of work. Certain 
indirect results come from the study of subjects, and these are 
classified as disciplinary, preparatory, and decorative. 

Structure of Subject-Matter. Everything made for a 
purpose has a structure, or organization. The watch is 



SUBJECT-MATTER 325 

made to show correct time; and every wheel, pivot, or 
mark on the face is organized into the structure. So 
each subject taught has its main divisions and its sub- 
ordinate divisions. History is divided into ancient, 
mediaeval, modern, English, and American divisions, 
and American history may again be divided into the 
colonial period, the revolutionary period, the period of 
the constitution, and the present period. Each of these 
may again be divided and subdivided. 

Each part of history or of any other subject down to its 
minutest detail, is of use in carrying out the main func- 
tion or purpose set for the subject. 

If any unit of subject-matter, whether large or small, 
is well constructed, it has one chief characteristic. It 
contains nothing that is irrelevant. For instance, a 
good statement of the solution of a problem in arith- 
metic will contain no unnecessary steps. 

Since an outline is a statement of the main points in a 
structure, every point in the outline should be relevant. 
Each should bear upon the central topic or function. 

Summary. Each unit of subject-matter is organized to carry 
out its function, and it is the characteristic of a good structure 
that there is present in it no irrelevant material. 

Course of Study. There is a whole world full of sub- 
ject-matter which might be taught to children. They 
may, theoretically, be taught all the languages in the 
world, all the sciences, all the arts, and all the history of 
the world. But we do not do so for two or three rea- 
sons. In the first place, they have no use for all of it; in 
the second place, they do not have time to learn it all; 
and in the third place, they cannot understand it all. 

We have, therefore, to make a selection. To deter- 



326 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

mine what to select is a very hard task, and in the at- 
tempt we meet with great difference of opinion. Some 
people include drawing, music, and manual training, 
while others decline to admit any one of these. Some 
want ancient history, while others scorn the subject. 

In spite of the fact that we may differ as to details of 
selection, the principle by which to make a selection is 
very easily stated. Stated roughly it is this. Pick out 
the subjects that are most important for the children in 
the community in which they live, and teach them what 
they need of these from day to day. 

Children have to read and write if they are to get 
the most out of life. History is an essential for correct 
action. Some knowledge of geography, arithmetic, and 
art is essential. 

There may be differences of opinion about what is 
most important and what is not, but whoever organizes 
a course of study must come to some decision in the mat- 
ter. The textbook writer decides upon the most impor- 
tant points when he writes his text. The teacher may 
differ from this opinion and decide that some of the 
things in the text are not important enough to study, or 
he may decide that the author has left out some impor- 
tant points and may insert them in his teaching. But, 
in every case, the thinking teacher and the thoughtful 
writer of texts must each decide upon what he thinks are 
the most important things for the children to study. 

In deciding upon this, the needs and abilities of the 
children have to be considered. For instance, little chil- 
dren do not need the same subject-matter that high 
school students need. They are different. Children differ 
from grade to grade. Therefore, after we have decided 
upon what should be taught, we have to portion it among 



SUBJECT-MATTER 327 

the grades according to the interests and abilities of the 
children in each grade. 

This has not yet been done with any great degree of 
success, because educational psychology has not been 
able to determine definitely what is of interest and of 
use for each grade. So we find that many things are sup- 
posed to be taught to children at a time when even the 
best teachers cannot get them interested in them. 

The young teachers have, of course, to follow the 
course of study and textbooks rather closely, because 
they do not knov/ children very well. But they should 
train themselves to watch for lack of interest and decide 
whether it is due to poor teaching, to fault of the pu- 
pils, or to selection of topics that cannot be made inter- 
esting. In the last case, such topics should be omitted. 

Summary. In making a course of study, the most important 
subjects for pupils should be selected, and these should be 
apportioned to the diflPerent grades according to the needs and 
abilities of the pupils. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. What is the intrinsic function of each subject studied in 
the preceding fourteen chapters.'* 

2. Name all the values that you have heard or seen stated 
for the study of each of these subjects. 

3. Which subjects usually are believed to have the strongest 
disciplinary value? 

4. Which are most commonly considered decorative.? 

5. Which subjects are considered to be preparatory.? 

6. What do you think of the statement that children should 
be taught only that for which they see the need right now, and 
should not be taught things for which they do not feel the 
need now, but will later.? Why.? 

7. In the preceding chapters, statements were given about 
the grades in which each subject should be taught. Give a 
resume of these. 

8. Summarize what has been said about the interests and 
instincts of pupils in the different grades. 



CHAPTER XVI 



MOTIVE 



Immediate Interest. When children study a sub- 
ject, they are either interested or they are not. If they 
like the subject or the lesson and study it solely be- 
cause they like it, they are said to have immediate in- 
terest in it. Many examples of this can be found in any 
school. Some boys and girls like history, others like 
arithmetic, and still others like spelling. Frequently 
some children like all the subjects studied in school. 

With such children the question of interest need never 
be raised, and if all children liked all the subjects in 
school, the study of interest would never have been 
made. But, unfortunately, most children study some 
subjects in which they are not interested, and some chil- 
dren are interested in no subject studied. A state of 
affairs such as this has naturally led bright men and 
women to study the problem. Women studied it before 
men because they had to teach the children in the home 
and care for them long ages before schools were started. 

Mediate Interest. Parents did not know that what 
they were trying to get was called " mediate interest." 
They merely tried to get children interested in things in 
which they were not interested. The name mediate inter- 
est was applied a short time ago to this kind of interest 
connected with a thing which is not interesting in itself. 
But the method of securing it has long been known and 
utilized. 

Stated briefly, the way to get children interested in a 



MOTIVE 329 

thing in which they are not interested is to associate it 
with something in which they are already interested. 
This means that the teacher has to find what the im- 
mediate interests of pupils are, and they are legion, and 
then mediate interest will be secured for uninteresting 
things which are associated with them. A boy may be 
interested in horses. If so, then anything that is con- 
nected with horses becomes interesting. For instance, 
arithmetic may be very uninteresting to this boy, but 
if he wants to figure out the rations that should be 
fed a working horse, he will take enough interest (me- 
diate interest) in the subject to do the necessary figuring. 
Or, a girl may not be interested in spelling, but may be 
very much interested in making good grades to please 
her father. So, because of this interest in pleasing her 
father, she may take suflBcient interest in a subject, 
naturally uninteresting to her, to secure good grades. 

Generic Values. Parents and teachers in their study 
of how to secure this mediate interest hit earliest upon 
a number of interesting things that work equally well in 
all subjects. These we call generic values or interests, 
because they are general and apply to all sorts of cases. 
They found, for instance, that many children had im- 
mediate interest in avoiding punishment. So, when a 
pupil showed no interest in arithmetic, the teacher was 
in the habit of saying, *' If you do not learn this arith- 
metic at once, I shall whip you." Other forms of punish- 
ment were utilized because they were found to be of 
immediate interest. Children do not like to remain in 
after school, nor do they like to be scolded. They do 
not enjoy getting low grades or failing in promotion. 

Many teachers recognize this and try to secure me- 
diate interest by whipping and scolding, by cutting down 



330 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

grades, and by threatening the children with demo- 
tion. 

It was felt, however, by many teachers that this 
harsh method of securing interest was not good. It 
tended to make pupils sullen and bad-tempered. It was 
found, too, that a large number of pupils were not in- 
terested in avoiding whippings, scoldings, demotions, and 
poor grades. So another class of generic values was util- 
ized. Some teachers saw that children were anxious to 
receive praise and longed to please an attractive teacher. 
Therefore, instead of scolding, these teachers resorted to 
pleasant incentives. In this way it was discovered that 
with many children this was a much better way of se- 
curing interest in uninteresting subjects. 

But critics complained that while these incentives 
might produce interest in school, they were not used 
outside school very much. When people are grown they 
are not whipped or kept in after school, nor are they 
always praised. These incentives, then, were thought 
to be poor because they were not permanent. So, the 
critics said, the generic values which you should use 
are those which will work all through life. Appeal to 
honesty, duty, ambition, rivalry, and the great virtues 
which will always last. So appeals are made to these. 

In all these appeals, the guiding principle should be 
laid down that the highest value that can be appealed 
to should be used. An appeal to duty may be too high 
because the pupils are not yet interested in doing their 
duty. If mediate interest is to be secured by an appeal 
to any general incentive, the teacher must know his 
pupils. The same incentive may not appeal to everyone. 
Some pupils have an interest in avoiding a scolding; 
others have not. Some pupils may have a high regard 



MOTIVE 331 

for honor and honesty; others may not. One pupil may 
be keenly interested in praise and have no interest in 
censure. 

Summary. In using generic values a teacher may appeal to 
harsh incentives or to pleasing ones. He may appeal to low 
motives or to high ones. He should know his pupils and make 
an appeal to the highest and most permanent that will move 
them. 

Specific Values. Critics again appeared and objected 
that all these incentives were clumsy. They pointed out 
that if the only use the pupil saw for studying spelling 
was the securing of the approval of his teacher, he was 
not getting a very clear idea of the use of spelling. They 
said that we do not study spelling or any other subject 
to please the teacher. We ought to do it for its intrinsic 
function, that is, to help convey ideas more accurately. 
So they assert that the way to get children interested in 
a subject is to discover what its intrinsic use is and con- 
nect it with the corresponding immediate interest. 

For instance, the intrinsic function of writing is to 
form letters correctly so that ideas may be communi- 
cated accurately. So the best method of getting me- 
diate interest in writing is to see that the children have 
an immediate interest in putting some valuable idea on 
paper and then show them that, to do this so that others 
can understand it, they need to write legibly. This 
shows them the use of writing while at the same time it 
makes them interested in it. It kills two birds with one 
stone. Again, the intrinsic reason for studying arith- 
metic is not to make good grades. It is to give people 
good methods of handling number. So, instead of con- 
necting arithmetic with grades, make the connection 
with the building of some interesting thing, or with the 



3S2 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

calculating of some interesting problem such as food 
rations, or the percentage of improvement coming from 
the use of good corn. 

The point of this method is that appeal is not made 
to generic values. It is made, rather, by finding out 
what the intrinsic function of the thing studied is, and 
then biding one's time until something comes up or can 
be brought up which is of great interest and in which the 
thing may be used. 

Summary. The appeal through the intrinsic function 
should be made wherever possible. When this fails with 
individual children in a class, appeal should be made to the 
generic values; for the class work must go on. If the appeal 
through the intrinsic function cannot be made to any pupils 
in the class, the teacher should consider the advisability of 
not teaching the particular thing at all. 

Potential Interest. The question arises as to whether 
one should teach children things in which they are not 
interested. The answer is yes and no. We certainly 
ought not to teach them only the things for which they 
have already shown an interest. For it is sometimes 
possible to create an interest where none is visible. That 
is, interest may be potential or it may be active. The 
teacher is justified in teaching things for which there is a 
potential interest. But if there is no interest present, 
either active or potential; that is, if the teacher cannot 
create an interest in a topic, it ought not to be taught. 

Problem. We have a habit of saying that people are 
interested in their own problems; or, in other words, that 
if a person has a problem he is interested. A problem 
comes whenever we see a difficulty in the way of accom- 
plishing something in which we are interested. A boy 
likes to work at arithmetic. He finds something he can- 



MOTIVE 333 

not do at once, and he has a problem. A girl wants to 
paint a picture. If she cannot, the problem of how to 
paint it arises. Or she may have no paint, whereupon 
the problem of getting paints is raised. 

A very good way, therefore, to get children interested 
is to ask them questions and make them conscious of 
the fact that there are better ways of doing things, and 
that what they know is insufficient. This is not done 
by scolding but by putting them in the presence of diffi- 
culties. These difficulties should not be too great or the 
children may grow discouraged. In short, they should 
be given interesting problems to solve. 

Need. The term need is one which is somewhat like 
interest in meaning. We may say that we feel a need for 
something or that we are interested in something. There 
is some difference of an abstruse sort between the two. 
The chief difference is that need implies a lack of some- 
thing. If we say that a boy is interested in going to 
school, we have a different feeling about it from what we 
have when we say that he needs to go to school. In the 
first case we have a pleasant picture, in the latter we 
think of a boy who does not go to school and is suffering 
harm because of it. 

The term need has in the last few years become com- 
mon as a sort of synonym for interest, with the differ- 
ence just noted. 

Correlation. When we associate one school subject 
with another or with the life of the pupils outside of 
school, we speak of this association as correlation. Very 
often it is a means for securing mediate interest. For 
instance, a pupil may be greatly interested in drawing, 
but may have little interest in history. If he is given 
an opportunity to illustrate his history lessons, he may 



334 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

become interested in them because of the correlation of 
the two. 

Correlation is also of use in applying what is learned. 
If a boy studies geography and applies it to history, he 
understands both the geography and the history better 
because of the correlation. This sort of correlation is of 
great benefit, and wherever it can be made it should 
be made. It takes longer to cover a topic in this way, 
but it is not a waste of time, for the subject is better 
learned. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Name ten generic values of a permanent sort. Which of 
these might appeal to pupils of six years of age.? Which to 
pupils of fourteen years of age.'^ 

2. Name five generic values, used chiefly in school, which 
are wholesome. 

3. Name five generic values, used chiefly in school, which 
are not wholesome. 

4. Is a teacher ever justified in whipping children? Why? 

5. To what extent may a teacher legitimately use his pupils' 
liking for him as an incentive to study? 

6. How would you create interest in each of the fifteen fore- 
going subjects discussed in the text, through the intrinsic 
function of each subject? 

7. Name five interesting problems which each of these 
fifteen subjects will help to solve. 

8. Show how each of these subjects may be correlated with 
some other subjects. Can each be correlated with each of the 
others? Demonstrate. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE RECITATION 

Under the term recitation may be gathered up a 
number of topics about helping children to understand 
subject-matter and to solve their problems. 

Telling versus Developing. The easiest way for a 
" school keeper " to get through a lesson is to tell the 
children everything. But the best way is to help 
them get as much as possible for themselves. It helps 
them because what they learn for themselves they 
retain more exactly and more permanently, and be- 
cause they understand it better at the time they learn 
it. It helps, also, because the pupil thereby is taught 
self-reliance and independence. 

The developing method should not be used where 
the thing to be learned is too diflacult to be understood. 
In that case it should be told to the pupils. For 
instance, if square root were taught to eighth-grade 
pupils, it would be wise to show them how to do it with- 
out explanation, because, while they can learn to use 
it, it is too difficult for them to understand why it is 
done as it is. 

Questioning. The greatest tool used by the de- 
veloping method is the question. To question well is 
the highest achievement of the teacher. 

There are two classes of questions: the test question 
and the developing question. The purpose of the for- 
mer is to find out how much children know, while the 



336 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

purpose of the latter is to help them to do their own 
thinking. 

Test questions should lead to topical answers. In 
testing pupils, the teacher should usually not ask a 
large number of little questions, but a smaller number 
of questions requiring more extended answers. They 
should not emphasize memory but should make the 
children think. In the questions at the end of each 
chapter, I have used very few purely memoriter ques- 
tions, but have tried to ask questions which will show 
whether or not the students understand the content of 
the chapter, at the same time making them apply their 
knowledge in a new way. 

In the developing questions, the teacher gives hints 
to help the pupils. Illustrations of these may be found 
scattered throughout the text. 

A few little devices are of use in asking questions of a 
class. For instance, it is better not to ask questions in ro- 
tation because children know when their turn comes and 
may loaf in the mean time. It is better to say, " What 
is a noun, John? " than to say, " John, what is a noun? " 
for in the latter case, the rest of the class will leave the 
question for John to answer. But if John's name is not 
called at first, every pupil will be alert, thinking he 
may be named. 

Questions should be definite. Questions beginning 
with What about are too indefinite. 

Generally speaking, questions answered by Yes or No 
are poor, because the answer is usually given away in 
the question. For instance, the question, *' Washington 
was the first President of the United States, was he 
not? " requires no thought. It is better to say, " Who 
was the first President of the United States? " 



THE RECITATION 337 

Answers. Children should not be allowed to answer 
in concert because the teacher cannot tell who is thinking 
and who is loafing. Occasionally in drill work they may 
be allowed to answer simultaneously, but only occasion- 
ally. 

Answers that are complete sentences should not al- 
ways be insisted upon because they retard class progress 
and are not required in intercourse outside of school. 
When a pupil's answer is obscure he may be asked to 
repeat, giving a full sentence; but usually an incom- 
plete sentence is satisfactory. 

Teachers should be careful not to repeat pupils' an- 
swers. It gets to be a bad habit with some teachers. If 
the class cannot hear the pupil speaking, he should be 
asked to repeat and speak more distinctly. 

Problem and Solution. In the preceding chapter, we 
spoke of the problem. Every recitation has one or more 
big problems to solve. In the solution of these problems, 
as we found in an earlier chapter, there are several steps. 
We collect data; make hypotheses or guesses at solution; 
find, finally, the correct hypothesis; and proceed to 
verify the solution to see if it is correct. 

This method can be illustrated in any subject. For 
instance, in agriculture, the problem may be. How can 
I best enrich the impoverished soil in a field? The data 
are all the facts that I know about enriching soil. My 
hypothesis may be (1) to use an artificial fertilizer or 
manure, (2) to grow alfalfa or cowpeas, or (3) to main- 
tain a longer rotation. I may think each of these processes 
through in order to determine which to try, or I may try 
all of them. I verify when I at last discover which pro- 
duces the best results at the smallest expense. When I 
have found this, I have arrived at the correct solution. 



338 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

In this the place which needs most safeguarding and 
assistance is the forming of the hypothesis. The teacher 
may tell the pupil how to solve the problem, but it is 
much better to allow him to do some thinking and in- 
telligent guessing for himself. This may take longer, 
but it produces much better results. 

Then, instead of telling him that what he has done 
is right or wrong, ask him wherever feasible to find out 
for himself. In arithmetic he should check his result. 
In some other subject the teacher should ask him, at 
least, whether or not his answer satisfies him. If it does 
and is wrong, a few questions will often show him that 
his verification is inadequate and will set him to work 
again. 

Induction. It is the birthright of every pupil to be 
given every opportunity to think. The teacher should 
not do his thinking for him. When he has reached his 
limit the teacher may think for him; but until that 
point is reached, interference is presumptuous. 

Whenever rules, principles, definitions, or laws are to 
be taught, the teacher may tell them to the pupils, or he 
may use the inductive method. 

This method means, briefly, that by the examination 
of a few particular cases the generalization may be found 
by the pupil for himself. As has been illustrated in many 
cases in earlier chapters, there are three main steps in 
induction. First, there must be some particular cases to 
examine; second, these must be compared to see in what 
respects they are alike; and, third, the generalization 
may then be stated. Suppose the problem is such as this. 
A young man visits the city and wonders what the latest 
styles in hats are at this time. As he walks up and down 
the streets he looks into the shop windows and sees the 



.THE RECITATION S39 

hats. He watches well-dressed men on the street and 
sees what they wear. In this way he sees many hats. He 
compares these and forms, the generalization that smart 
hats this year are made of velvet or are extreme in color, 
or whatever the case may be. 

If a generalization is reached by any other means than 
by an examination of particular instances, it is not 
induction. 

The Herbartian Five Formal Steps. As explained 
above, the psychologist, Herbart, and his followers 
worked out a plan for teaching which involved these 
three steps and two others, and these were called the 
Five Formal Steps. These the teacher frequently meets 
m his reading on methods of teaching. 

The steps are called : Preparation, Presentation, Com- 
parison, Generalization, and Application. In the first 
step. Preparation, the problem to be solved is stated; 
in the second. Presentation, the particulars are presented 
and studied; in the third. Comparison, these particulars 
are compared; in the fourth, Generalization, the generali- 
zation, rule, principle, definition, or law, is stated; and in 
the fifth. Application, the generalization is drilled upon 
and used in solving other problems. It will be noticed 
that in the second, third, and fourth steps we have the 
three steps involved in induction. 

The Five Formal Steps are useful whenever the prob- 
lem is that of forming rules or making definitions. 

Deduction. On the other hand, to find out what to do 
we often use rules already known to us. For instance, I 
wonder whether or not the low standing of a pupil is due 
to defective sight. I know that if boys' eyes are good they 
can read letters of a certain size at twenty feet. This is 
a rule. I find that this boy cannot do so; therefore I 



S40 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

decide that his eyes are bad. Here I have used a general 
rule to handle a particular case. 

In induction, we examine particular cases in order to 
find a rule. That is how the rule about reading letters at 
a certain distance was formed; many eyes were tested 
and the results compared. But now that I have the rule 
I apply it to a particular case that I had not examined 
before. 

This is called deduction and involves three factors or 
steps. FirsU there is a general rule; second, there is a 
particular case; and, third, I try to find the rule that will 
fit the case or try to find a particular case that will fit 
the rule. 

Deduction is used in every subject. In arithmetic a 
little time is taken learning rules and processes, but most 
of the time is spent solving problems by the application 
of known rules. In grammar all parsing and analysis 
involves the using of definitions in handling particular 
sentences. In drawing, geography, writing, and music, 
principles are used frequently. 

Drill. When a rule or method of any sort is to be used 
frequently, it pays to make it as perfect as possible and 
then to form the habit of applying it automatically, so 
that it will not be necessary to think about it whenever 
we want to use it. 

This can be done by drill. We have already men- 
tioned the steps in drill many times, but it will do no harm 
to look at them again. The first thing that is necessary 
is to understand the thing to be drilled upon. The psy- 
chologist says that there must be a " clear initial impres- 
sion." The second thing that must be done is to have 
attentive repetition. It is not sufficient to repeat the 
matter. When the repetition occurs, the attention should 



THE RECITATION 841 

be fixed firmly upon it. It pays, moreover, to repeat for 
a short time frequently, rather than to repeat for a long 
time infrequently, because the attention gets tired very 
easily. The third thing is to see that the thing being drilled 
upon is repeated till it becomes automatic. If one gives 
up the repetition before it has reached the point where 
one does not have to think about it, the labor is wasted. 
Realness. Much has to be taught in school which 
pupils have never seen and which cannot be experienced 
in school. This necessitates the vigorous and vivid use 
of the imagination. We can make things, though ab- 
sent, real by dramatization; by the use of blackboards; 
by comparing some situation which the pupils have never 
experienced with something they have seen ; by models, 
diagrams, and pictures; and by using type lessons by 
which, instead of running quickly over many lessons all 
alike, we select typical ones and put more time upon 
them. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

Collect from each of the first fifteen chapters all instances 
of — 

(1) The use of the developing method. 

(2) Test questions. 

(3) Developing questions. 

(4) The solutions of problems. 

(5) Induction. 

(6) Deduction. 

(7) Drill. 

(.8) Methods of securing realness. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

ASSIGNMENT AND STUDY 

Study. In rural schools, the pupils have necessarily a 
great deal more time for study outside the class than 
children in city schools are likely to have. They receive 
less assignment work from the teacher, and must con- 
sequently do more independent work for themselves. 
This, in some respects, is an advantage. But unless they 
learn how to study, there is a fearful waste of time. This 
they can be taught only in class, because the teacher 
is busy with other classes while they are at their seats. 

Assignments. The teacher can be of material assist- 
ance by setting the right sort of assignments. The hardest 
kind of assignment and the most frequently used is this: 
"Take the next four pages." This is the hardest because 
the children have to find out not only what problems 
the text is attempting to solve, but, in addition, what 
the solution is. To many children who are given this 
sort of assignment, the idea never occurs that the text 
is solving any problems. They merely learn a mass of 
facts. 

This situation can be improved by the teacher if, in 
such subjects as literature, history, or geography, a 
few questions, the answers to which may be found in the 
assigned lesson, are placed on the board. This has been 
illustrated frequently in earlier chapters. Sometimes 
such questions may be set that the pupils will have to 
consult two or three textbooks in the library in order to 
form their answers. 



ASSIGNMENT AND STUDY 343 

When assignments are made in more than one text, 
rather definite page references in each case should be 
given, though, as said above, it is surprising how much 
pupils who are trained to do it can dig out of a number 
of books without much assistance. 

There are a few things which a pupil in the seventh 
and eighth grades should be expected always to do. For 
instance, there should be at hand a simple dictionary, 
and each pupil should be expected to look up the mean- 
ings of all words he does not know. 

Pupils may also in study hours be required, if they 
have any liking for drawing, to illustrate selected pas- 
sages in lessons assigned. Even if they have little skill 
they should not be debarred from the exercise. 

Assignments are easily made in the subjects of spell- 
ing, grammar, drawing, the handicrafts, and arithmetic. 
The difficult subjects to study are reading and literature, 
geography, language, history, civics, agriculture, and 
physiology. These, as just stated, can be materially 
helped by the assignment of definite and large questions. 

After some practice the older pupils will get to a point 
where they can, as a variation, be asked to read the as- 
signment and to write down what they think to be the 
important questions which it answers. 

Study lessons should be assigned so as to require a 
minimum of written work by the pupils. Nothing is 
more deadening than to require constant writing. Out- 
lines of lessons may be written. But greater detail may 
be required only where there is good and sufficient rea- 
son for it. 

In making difficult assignments it will often pay the 
teacher to take the time of the recitation to talk the 
lesson over with the pupils and make the assignment 



844 TEACHING THE COMMON BRANCHES 

clear. For while it takes time from a short recitation it 
helps the pupils to utilize the long period of study to the 
best advantage. 

The Use of the Textbook. Rural teachers must use 
the textbook more constantly than do city teachers be- 
cause of lack of time. The weakness of this arrangement 
is that, unless adjustments are made to meet conditions, 
the textbook tells the pupils what they want to know 
and leaves them little opportunity for finding out things 
for themselves. This may be obviated in great part 
by the use of good assignment questions to which the 
answers cannot be found in a single sentence. If the 
questions asked are thought questions rather than mem- 
ory questions, the pupils will use the text merely as a 
place from which to collect data which can be used in 
helping them to think out other problems set by the 
teacher. Illustrations of these are given in preceding 
chapters. 

Assignments in Lower Grades. In the lower three 
grades the assignments have to be very definite and 
simple. One difficulty in the rural school is that these 
classes cannot be called very often, and when they are 
called they are short, thus leaving those children who 
are least able to work alone, to occupy themselves for 
the longest time. In this case, there should be recourse 
to handwork of various sorts and to drawing in addition 
to the study of reading. This has already been discussed 
in other chapters, particularly in the one on handicrafts. 

It is always advisable to allow young children in the 
lower grades to have longer intermissions than the 
older ones. It is cruel to keep them in school all day long 
when they can learn just as much and more if they 
are in school half the time. Teachers, however, in some 



ASSIGNMENT AND STUDY 345 

communities have to be cautious in introducing such a 
seeming innovation. 

CLASS QUESTIONS 

1. Collect from the first fifteen chapters illustrations of the 
following : — 

(1) Assignment questions. 

(2) Illustrations of the use of the textbook. 

2. Make out assignment questions for a literature lesson, 
a geography lesson, a history lesson, a lesson in civics, and 
one in agriculture. 



LIST OF BOOKS FOR COLLATERAL 
READING 

Arnold, S. L. Waymarksfor Teachers. Silver, Burdett & Co., 

1894. 
Arnold, S. L. Reading: How to Teach It. Silver, Burdett & Co., 

1899. 
Betts, G. H. The Mind and its Education. D. Appleton & Co., 

1909. 
Black, J. E. Primary Methods. Interstate School of Corre- 
spondence, Chicago, 1909. 
BoYER, C. C. Modern Methods for Teachers. Lippincott, 1908. 
Bricker, G. a. The Teaching of Agriculture in High Schools. 

The Macmillan Company, 1912. 
Briggs, T. H., and Coffman, L.D. Reading in Public Schools. 

Row, Peterson & Co., 1908. 
Brigham, a. p. Geographic Influences in American History. 

Ginn & Co., 1903. 
Carpenter, G. R.; Baker, F. T.; and Scott, F. N. The 

Teaching of English in the Elementary and the Secondary 

School. Longmans, Green & Co., 1903. 
Charters, W. W. Methods of Teaching. Row, Peterson & 

Co., 1912. 
Chubb, P. The Teaching of English in the Elementary and the 

Secondary School. The Macmillan Company, 1909. 
Clark, S. H. How to Teach Reading in the Public Schools. 

Scott, Foresman & Co., 1898. 
CooLEY, A. W. Language Teaching in the Grades. Houghton 

Mifflin Company, 1913. 
Cox, J. H. Literature in the Common Schools. Little, Brown & 

Co., 1908. 
Crawshaw, F. D., and Selvidge, R. W. The Teaching of 

Manual Arts. University of Wisconsin, 1911. 
Dopp, K. E. The Place of Industries in Elementary Education. 

University of Chicago Press, 1909. 
Haliburton, M. W., and Smith, A. G. Teaching Poetry in the 

Grades. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1911. 
Hall, G. S. Educational Problems. D. Appleton & Co., 1911. 
HuEY, E. B. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading. The 

Macmillan Company, 1908. 
James, W. Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on 

Some of Life's Ideals. Henry Holt, 1907. 



BOOKS FOR COLLATERAL READING 347 

Kemp, E. W. An Outline of Method in History. The Inland 

Company, 1897. 
Kern, M. R. Elementary School Record, No. 2. University of 

Chicago Press, 1900. 
Kern, O. J. Among Country Schools. Ginn & Co., 1906. 

McKeever, W. a. PsT/chologic Method in Teaching. A. 
Flanagan Company, 1909. 

McMuRRY, C. A. Special Method in Arithmetic. The Mac- 
millan Company, 1906. 

McMuRRY, C. A. Special Method in Language in the Eight 
Grades. The Macmillan Company, 1906. 

McMuRRY, C. A. Special Method in Geography. The Mac- 
millan Company, 1904. 

McMuRRY, C. A. Special Method in Reading in the Grades. 
The Macmillan Company, 1908. 

Pyle, W. H. The Outlines of Educational Psychology. Warwick 
& York, 1911. 

Redway, J. W. The New Basis for Geography. The Macmillan 
Co., 1901. 

RoARK, R. N. Method in Education. American Book Com- 
pany, 1899. 

RocHELEAU, W. F. Intermediate and Grammar Methods. Inter- 
state School of Correspondence, Chicago, 1909. 

Row, R. K. Tlie Educational Meaning of Manual Arts and 
Industries. Row, Peterson & Co., 1909. 

Sanders, T. E. Management and Methods for Rural and Village 
Schools. A. S. Barnes & Co., 1909. 

Scott, C. A., Social Education. Ginn & Co., 1908. 

Sherman, E. B., and Reed, A. A. Essentials of Teaching 
Reading. The University Publishing Company (Lincoln, 
Neb.), 1907. 

Strayer, G. D. a Brief Course in the Teaching Process. The 
Macmillan Company, 1911. 

Sutherland, W. J. The Teaching of Geography. Scott, Fores- 
man & Co., 1909. 

Teachers College Record. The Columbia University Press. 

Thompson, M. E. Psychology and Pedagogy of Writing. War- 
wick & York, 1911. 

Wallin, J. E. W. Spelling Efficiency in Relation to Age, Grade, 
and Sex, and the Question of Transfer. Warwick & York, 
1911. 

White, E. E. The Art of Teaching. American Book Company, 
1901. 

White, E. E. The Elements of Pedagogy. American Book 
Company, 1886. 



INDEX 



Agriculture, chap, xiv: subject 
matter, 310/.; intrinsic func- 
tion, 310/.; indirect function, 
310/.; course of study, 311/.; 
motive, 313/.; immediate inter- 
est, 313/.; clubs, 314; correla- 
tion, 314/.; solving problems 
in, 315/.; textbooks, 318; field 
trips, 319; drill, 319. 

Agricultural clubs, 314. 

Alphabetic method in reading, 
118/. 

Alternation, in spelling, 24/.; in 
penmanship, 42; in language, 
70; in grammar, 101; in reading, 
143; in drawing, 163; in music, 
183; in handicrafts, 210; in 
geography, 237. 

Analysis in grammar, 80/. 

Anatomy and physiology, 300/. 

Appreciation, in grammar, 97/.; 
in drawing, 149/.; how to 
teach, in drawing, 159/.; in 
music, 169/.; in arithmetic, 
292/. 

Arithmetic, chap, xii: subject- 
matter, 273/.; intrinsic func- 
tion, 273/.; indirect function, 
274; course of study, 274/.; 
standards, 278; motive, 279/.; 
immediate interest, 279; generic 
values, 280; specific need, 280/.; 
and handicrafts, 280/.; and 
plays and games, 281; and 
practical problems, 281/.; tell- 



ing method, 283/.; induction, 
284/.; reasoning in, 285; solving 
problems, 286/.; drill, 290/.; 
application, 292/.; class me- 
chanics, 294/.; tables, 294/.; 
assignments, 295; examina- 
tions, 296; answers, 296/.; 
neatness, 297/. 

Assignments, in grammar, 100; in 
literature, 137/.; in geography, 
229/.; in history, 259; in arith- 
metic, 295; general, 342; in 
lower grades, 344/. ^ shi 

Assignment and study, chap, 
xviii: study, 342; assignments, 
342/.; use of textbooks, 344; 
assignments in lower grades, 
344/. 

Audience, in language, 56ff.; in 
reading, 108/.; in spelling, 
128/.; in music, 174/. 

Bacteriology, 302/. 

Blackboard in primary reading, 

124. 
Black list in spelling, 22/. 
Bull, Mary, 199. 
Busy work, 203. 

Calling words corrected, 132/. 

Carpentry: equipment, 191; prob- 
lems, 192; processes, 193; 
method of teaching, 193; devel- 
oping method, 194. 

Charts in primary reading, 124. 



350 



INDEX 



Civics, chap, xi: intrinsic function, 
266; structure, 266/.; psycho- 
logical organization, 268; con- 
crete problems, 268/.; text- 
books, 271. 

Class mechanics, in spelling, 23/.; 
in penmanship, 41/.; in lan- 
guage, 69/.; in grammar, 99/.; 
in reading, 142/.; in drawing, 
163/.; in music, 182/.; in handi- 
crafts, 213/.; in geography, 
237/.; in history, 263/.; in 
arithmetic, 294/ 

Clay modeling, 209/. 

Committee of Seven on history, 
243/. 

Composing music, 177/ 

Cooking, 197/.: domestic science 
clubs, 197/.; school luncheons. 



Copy books, 35/. 

Correlation, in spelling, 14/.; in 
penmanship, 39; in language, 
61/.; in grammar, 92; in read- 
ing, 130; in drawing, 146/., 
163/.; in music, 175/.; in handi- 
crafts, 211/.; in geography, 
227/.; in history, 251/.; in 
arithmetic, 280/; in agriculture, 
814/.; and motive, 333/. 

Course of study, in spelling, 6/.; 
in penmanship, 34/; in lan- 
guage, 47/.; in grammar, 82/; 
in reading, 113/; in literature, 
141; in drawing, 152/; in 
music, 171/.; in handicrafts, 
189/.; in geography, 219/; in 
history, 243/.; in arithmetic, 
274/; in physiology, 300, 309; 
in agriculture, 311/; in prin- 
ciples of construction, 325/ 

Courtis, S. A., 278. 

Current events in history, 262/. 



Dates in history, 258. 

Deductive method, 339/. (See 
Application and Drill.) 

Developing method, in grammar, 
95/.; in carpentry, 194; general, 
335. 

Devices in grammar, 99/. 

Diacritical markings, 19/ 

Diagnosis of handwriting, 35, 40. 

Diagramming in grammar, 81/. 

Dictionary, use of, in language, 
65/. 

Domestic science clubs, 197/. 

Dopp, K. E., 205/. 

Drawing, chap, vi: subject- 
matter, 146/.; and language, 
146/.; intrinsic function, 147/; 
appreciation vs. technique, 149/.; 
standards, 150; structure, 150/.; 
materials, 151; course of study, 
152/; interesting subjects, 
153/.; technique by grades, 
156/.; textbooks, 157; motive, 
158/.; specific need, 158/.; gen- 
eric value, 158/.; drill, 159; 
appreciation, 159/; children's 
taste, 160/.; traveling galleries, 
163; class mechanics, 163/.; 
alternation, 163; correlation, 
163/. 

Dressmaking, 196/. 

Drill, in spelling, 18/; in penman- 
ship, 39/; in language, 68/.; in 
grammar, 96/.; in primary 
reading, 125; in reading, 133/; 
in memorizing poetry, 139/; in 
reading, 159; in music, 177/.; in 
geography, 228; in history, 
259/.; in arithmetic 290/.; on 
tables, 294/.; in physiology, 
307/.; in agriculture, 319; 
general, 340/. 

Dunn, Fanny W., 209. 



INDEX 



351 



"Educative Seat Work," 209. 
Errors, and motive in language, 

64/.; correction of, in reading, 

131/.; 142/. 

Field trips, in geography, 239; in 

agriculture, 319. 
Five Formal Steps, The, 339. 
Function. (See Intrinsic and 

Indirect Functions.) 

Galleries, Traveling, 163. 

Generic values, in spelling, 11/.; in 
penmanship, 37; in language, 
59; in grammar, 88; in reading, 
127; in drawing, 158/.; in arith- 
metic, 280; and motive, 329/. 

Geography, chap, ix: subject- 
matter, 216/.; intrinsic func- 
tion, 216/.; place, 216/.; ra- 
tional, 217/., 235/.; structure, 
218/.; course of study, 219/.; 
standard, 221/.; home, 222/; 
psychological organization, 
225/.; motive, 224; immediate 
interest, 224; specific need, 
224/; correlation, 227/.; drill, 
228; textbooks, 229/.; assign- 
ments, 229/.; imagination in, 
230/.; type studies, 234/.; class 
mechanics, 237/; alternation, 
237; matches, 238/.; field trips, 
239. 

Geography matches, 238/. 

Grammar, chap, iv: subject- 
matter, 73/; function, 73/ 
standards, 76/; structure, 78/ 
parsing and analyses, 80/ 
diagramming, 81/.; course of 
study, 82/; interest (motive) 
87/; generic values, 88; specific 
need, 89/; correlation, 92; tell- 
ing method, 92/.; inductive 



method, 93/.; developing 
method, 95/.; drill, 96/.; appli- 
cation, 97/.; devices, 99/.; as- 
signments, 100; alternation, 101. 
Guessing, in agriculture, 317/.; in 
arithmetic, 289/. 

Handicrafts, chap, viii: subject- 
matter, 185/; intrinsic func- 
tions, 187/.; indirect function, 
187/.; course of study, 189/.; 
psychological organization, 

189/.; carpentry, 191/; cook- 
ing, 197/; primary handwork, 
202/.; advanced handwork, 
211/; class mechanics, 213/.; 
alternation, 211; correlation, 
211/ 

Handwork, primary, 202/.: 
"busy work," 203; primitive 
industries, 203/; "Educative 
Seat Work," 209/.; clay model- 
ing, 209/.; weaving, 210. 

Handwriting scale, 30/.; and 
interest, 36/. 

History, chap, x: subject-matter, 
241/; intrinsic function, 241/.; 
patriotism, 242/.; course of 
study, 243/; continuity in, 216; 
rational, 247/.; standards, 248/.; 
motive, 249/.; immediate inter- 
est, 249; mediate interest, 
249/; correlation, 251/.; prob- 
lems in, 252/; new method of 
handling events, 257; dates, 
258; assignments, 259; drill, 
259/.; realness in, 261/.; pic- 
tures in, 261; maps in, 261/.; 
current events, 262/.; class me- 
chanics, 263/.; notebooks, 263; 
written work, 263; topical 
questions, 263. 

Home geography, 222/. 



352 



INDEX 



Hospital, A writing, 38/. 
Hygiene and physiology, 300^. 

Imagery, in spelling, 16/.; in 
geography, 230^. 

Immediate interest, in spelling, 
10; in penmanship, 36; in lan- 
guage, 59; in grammar, 87/.; in 
reading, 127; in geography, 224; 
in history, 249; in arithmetic, 
279; in agriculture, 313/.; and 
motive, 328. 

Indirect function, of penmanship, 
28/; of handicrafts, 187/; of 
arithmetic, 274; of agriculture, 
310/; of subject matter, 323/ 

Inductive method, in grammar, 
93jf.; in arithmetic, 284/; gen- 
eral, 338/. 

Interest. (See Motive.) 

Interesting topics In language, 
53/. 

Intrinsic function, of spelling, 1/; 
of penmanship, 28/; of lan- 
guage, 44/; of grammar, 73/.; 
of reading, 104/; of primary 
reading, 118; of drawing, 147/.; 
of music, 168/., 174/; of handi- 
crafts, 187/; of geography, 
216/; of history, 241/; of civ- 
ics, 266; of arithmetic, 273/; of 
school physiology, 300/; of 
agriculture, 310/.; of subject- 
matter, 822/ 

Kendall and Thwaites, 253. 
Kern, Mrs. Mary Root, 179. 

Language, chap, iii: subject- 
matter, 44/.; function, 44/; 
standards, 45/.; course of 
study, 47/; psychological or- 
ganization, 49/.; textbooks, 50; 



interest, 51/; audience, 56/; 
interesting topics, 53/; correla- 
tion, 61/.; motive, 51/; free- 
dom in use, 62/; outlining, 
63/; oral, 64, 69; written, 64/, 
69/; dictionary, 65/; drill, 68/; 
class mechanics, 69/; alterna- 
tion, 70. 

"Later Cave Men, The," 206. 

Literature, 135/.; problem, 135/.; 
assignment in, 137/.; beauty in, 
138/; memorizing (poetry), 
139/; course of study in, 141. 

Loud reading corrected, 132, 

Low reading corrected, 132. 

McMurry, C. A., 223, 244/ 

Maps in geography, 233, 237; in 
history, 261/. 

Mediate interest, in spelling, 11; 
in penmanship, 37/; in lan- 
guage, 59; in grammar, 88/; in 
reading, 127; in history, 249/.; 
and motive, 328/. 

Memorizing poetry, 139/ 

Millinery, 196/ 

Motive, chap, xvi: immediate 
interest, '328; mediate interest, 
328/; generic values, 329/; 
specific values, 331/.; potential 
interest, 332; and problem, 
332/; and need, 333; correla- 
tion, 333/. 

Motive, in spelling, 10/.; in pen- 
manship, 36/; in language, 
51/; in grammar, 87/; in 
reading, 127/; in drawing, 
158/; in music, 174/; in geog- 
raphy, 224; in history, 249/; in 
arithmetic, 279/; in agricul- 
ture, 313/. 

Mumbling corrected, 133. 

Music, chap, vii: subject-matter. 



INDEX 



353 



166/.; and reading, 166/.; in- 
trinsic function, 168/.; reading 
and composition, 168/.; appre- 
ciation, 169/.; standards, 171; 
course of study, 171/.; text- 
books, 173; motive, 174/.; in- 
trinsic function, 174/.; audi- 
ence, 174/; correlation, 175/.; 
reading, 176/.; drill, 177/.; com- 
position, 177/.; illustrative les- 
son, 179/.; class mechanics, 
182/; alternation, 183. 

Natural method in reading, 130/. 
Notebooks in history, 263. 

Oral spelling, 17/.; oml reading, 

128/ 
Organization, psychological, in 

language, 49/ 

Parsing, 80/. 

Penmanship, chap, ii: function, 
28/.; standards, 29/.; structure, 
32/.; movements, 33/.; course 
of study, 34/; copy books, 35/; 
interest in, 36/; hospital, 38/.; 
correlation, 39; drill, 39/; diag- 
nosis, 35, 40; class mechanics, 
41/.; alternation, 42; subject- 
matter, 28/ 

Perry pictures, 160. 

Phonic method in reading, 120/. 

Phonographs, 170. 

Physiology and hygiene, chap, 
xiii: course of study, 300, 309; 
intrinsic function, 300/.; anat- 
omy, 300/; hygiene, 300/; 
bacteriology, 302/.; sanitation, 
303/.; and physical exercises, 
304/.; psychological organiza- 
tion, 305/; problems, 305/; 
textbooks, 307; drill, 307/. 



Piano players, 169/. 

Pictures, in geography, 233; in 
history, 261. 

Place geography, 216/. 

Position in reading, 142. 

Primary reading, intrinsic func- 
tion of, 118; alphabetic method 
in, 118/.; word method in, 119/.; 
phonic method in, 120/; sen- 
tence method in, 122; the 
blackboard for, 124; charts for, l 
124; drill in, 125; supplemen- 
tary reading in, 125/.; stand- 
ards of, 126/. 

Problems, in literature, 135/.; in 
civics, 268/; in civics, how se- 
cured, 272; practical, in arith- 
metic, 281/; solving, in arith- 
metic, 286/; in physiology, 
305/; solving, in agriculture, 
315/; and motive, 332/.; and 
solution (general) 337/. 

Psychological organization, in 
language, 49/; in handicrafts, 
189/.; in geography, 225/.; in 
civics, 268; in physiology, 
305/ 

Questions, 335/. 

Rational geography, 217/.; 235/. 

Rational history, 247/. 

Reading, chap, v: subject-matter, 
104/; intrinsic function, 104/; 
structure, 105/; audience, 
108/.; standards, 109/; course 
of study, 113/; and stages of 
development of children, 115/.; 
recapitulation theory, 116/.; 
primary (see Primary Read- 
ing); motive, 127/; silent, 
127/; oral, 128/; correlation, 
130; natural method, 130/.; 



354 



INDEX 



correction of errors, 131/.; 
142/.; drill, 133/.; class me- 
chanics, 142/.; alternation, 
143. 

Reading and music, 166/. 

Recapitulation theory, 116/. 

Recitation, The, chap, xvii: tell- 
ing vs. developing, 335; ques- 
tioning, 335/.; problem and 
solution, 337/.; induction, 338/.; 
Five Formal Steps, The, 339; 
deduction, 339/.; drill, 340/. 

Rural school history, 248. 

Russell Sage Foundation, 43. 

Sanitation, 303/. 

School luncheon, 198/. 

Scrapbooks in geography, 237/. 

Sentence method in reading, 122; 
in music, 172/. 

Sewing, and carpentry, 194/.; 
equipment in, 196; millinery 
and dressmaking, 196/ 

Silent reading, 127/. 

Simplified spelling, 5/. 

Simplified Spelling Board, 5. 

Smith, David Eugene, 275. 

Southey, Robert, 241. 

Specific needs, in spelling, 13/.; in 
penmanship, 37; in language, 
59/.; in grammar, 89/.; in read- 
ing, 127/.; in drawing, 158/.; in 
geography, 224/.; in arithmetic, 
280/ 

Specific value and motive, 331/. 

Spelling, ehap. i: function, 1/.; 
subject-matter, 1/.; standards, 
8/.; structure, 4/.; simplified, 
5/.; course of study, 6/; inter- 
est, 10/; correlation, 14/; 
imagery in, 16/.; oral, 17/.; 
drill, 18/; diacritical markings, 
19/.; Black list, 22/.; class 



mechanics, 23/.; alternation, 
24/. 

Stages of development of children 
and reading, 115/. 

Standards, in spelling, 3/.; in pen- 
manship, 29/; in language, 
45/.; in grammar, 76/.; in 
reading, 109/; in primary 
reading, 126/.; in drawing, 150; 
in music, 171; in geography, 
221/.; in history, 248/.; in 
arithmetic, 278. 

Stone, C. W., 278. 

Structure of, spelling, 4/.; of pen- 
manship, 32/.; of grammar, 
78/; of reading, 105/; of 
drawing, 150/.; of geography, 
218/.; of civics, 266/; of 
subject-matter, 324/. 

Subject-matter of spelling, 1/.; 
of penmanship, 28/.; of lan- 
guage, 44/.; of grammar, 73/; 
of reading, 104/; of drawing, 
146/; of music, 166/; of hand- 
icrafts, 185/; of geography, 
216/; of history, 241/; of 
arithmetic, 273/; of agricul- 
ture, 310/ 

Subject-matter, chap, xv: intrin- 
sic function, 322/; indirect 
functions, 323/.; structure, 
324/.; course of study, 325/ 

Supplementary reading in pri- 
mary reading, 125/. 

Tables, arithmetic, 294/. 
Technique vs. appreciation in 

drawing, 149/.; by grades, in 

drawing, 156/. 
Telling method, in grammar, 92/.; 

in arithmetic, 283/.; general, 

335. 
Textbooks, in language, 50; in 



INDEX 



355 



drawing, 157; in music, 173; in 
geography, 229/.; in civics, 
271; in physiology, 307; in agri- 
culture, 318; use of, 344. 

Thorndike's standards, in pen- 
manship, 30/,; and interest, 36/. 

Thwaites and Kendall, 253. 

Topical questions, in geography, 
238; in history, 263. 



"Tree Dwellers, The,", 205. 
Type studies in geography, 234/. 



Values, generic, 
values.) 



(See Generic 



Weaving, 210. 

Whole method, 140/. 

Word method in reading, 119/. 



OCT 20 1913 



